Out of the ordinary

The Wuzhen Theater Festival is set to bring some of the world's best experimental productions to the water town. Han Bingbin reports.

It is aiming to become China's answer to the Avignon or Edin-burgh festivals, building a base where drama enthusiasts can indulge in art and the exchange of ideas, and hopefully arrive back in reality with a clearer understanding of life.

As they say, the Wuzhen Theater Festival is beyond the ordinary.

Themed "metamorphoses", the second installment of the festival will begin mid-October and tap into the magic possibilities of transformation and experimentation.

It is set to open with one of China's most iconic plays, Tian Qinxin's Green Snake - a brave adaptation of the country's best known folklore, depicting the love between a human and a snake-turned-fairy.

The festival will end with an equally pioneering production from the United States' Good-man Theater based on the same story, The White Snake.

In between is a lineup of 50 unorthodox performances.

In addition to Chinese theater's most recent experimental outputs - 1587, A Year of No Significance by Hong Kong's Zuni Icosahedron and Morning, Morning by Yang Chinghsiang and his drama troupe from Taipei - the festival is also a rare peek into the best productions in global theater.

The Toneelgroep from the Netherlands and South Korea's Michoo Theater will both present one-woman shows, with one actress playing up to 32 roles. Denmark's Odin Teatret will present Ode to Progress and Memoria.

In a tribute to mark Shakespeare's 450th birthday this year, the wickedly talented Reduced Shakespeare Com-pany from the US will present the hilarious production The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. The Company Theater Workspace from India will offer up a surprisingly simple version of the otherwise romantically magnificent Twelfth Night.

Wuzhen - a water town in Zhejiang province - is the perfect place to hold a festival, says the festival's artistic director Stan Lai.

The town boasts a range of theatrical spaces, such as courtyards and warehouses, in which productions can be staged.

Lai is also one of Taiwan's leading theater directors.

Performances aside, theater professionals from across the world are set to take part in discussions, master classes and workshops. This is what the festival was originally meant to be, says producer Ding Naichu - "a window for the East and West to see each other" and, more importantly, for knowledge to be exchanged.

In an effort to foster China's next generation of modern theater creators, the festival launched a Small Town Award last year, handing out prizes of up to 200,000 yuan ($32,200) to find talented young directors and actors.

The award is open to participants age 35 or younger. Entries are 40-minute plays on a given theme with only three props allowed. These works will be judged by a team of veteran directors, actors and critics, including China's avantgarde theater pioneer Meng Jinghui and actor Huang Lei.

This year, with an invisible door, a hat and an instrument, participants are encouraged to free their minds in their interpretation of "metamorphoses".

Last year, a team of visionary artists, including Lai and Huang, who directed his first TV series in Wuzhen, started the festival. It was an instant success, with an array of high-quality plays from home and abroad.

Wuzhen was home to a number of ancient scholars who became famous in China's literary and artistic world, and it is set to build on its legacy as a place to nurture creative minds as it becomes the hub of Chinese theater.

A "young artists in residence" program intends to invite artists to not only have their works performed during the festival but also to stay in Wuzhen and create original plays.

They are working to see the festival build a cultural legacy in the town, says Huang, meaning the town will be seeing cultural events year-round.

"I'm trying to push everyone to carry on this dream, to make this grand event a leg-end and then eventually a part of China's theatrical history. That's our goal," he says.

Contact the writer at hanbingbin@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 06/16/2014 page8)