The forerunner was the Festival of Latin American Theater sponsored by the Casa de las Americas in the early 1960s and by 1964 attaining international characteristics. By the end of the 60s it had stopped but in 1998 the Theater Department of the Casa de las Americas organized the Mayo Teatral event, intending to hold it annually until 2000 after which date it was scheduled to take place every two years. Some of the most important theater companies of Latin America have participated such as La Candelaria (Colombia), Grupo Denise Stoklos (Brazil) and Sportivo Teatral (Argentina), just to name a few. Workshops and lectures will be given by Cuban and international experts and critics and reviewers are expected to meet during this event.