Organizers of the Israel Festival are preparing to sue two out of three companies which have cancelled their scheduled appearances. Three European productions, Rwanda '94, a multimedia production by the Groupov Company from Belgium, Mozart's opera, Cosi fan tutte by the Bremen Opera Company from Germany, and the Venice Baroque Orchestra from Italy suddenly pulled out this week from the upcoming festival.

Omanut La'am is offering residents of the country's periphery up to a 70% discount on ticket prices for performances at this year's Israel Festival, which opens May 23 in Jerusalem.

On the Israeli side, Miki Gurevitch of Jerusalem's Khan Theater, Yevgeni Aryeh from Gesher, and Dudi Ma'ayan, founder of the Acco Theater Center will be there. International representatives include Philippe Gaulier from France and Jos Houben from Belgium.