Theater festival presents awards

The 10th Wuzhen Theater Festival reached its finale at the Wuzhen Grand Theater in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, on Sunday, and awards were given out to the winners of this year's emerging theater artists' competition.

The festival's committee members, theater professionals and guests attended the closing ceremony, which was hosted by Huang Lei, co-founder and producing director of the festival, and He Jiong, a judge of the competition.

Meng Jinghui, co-founder and artistic director of the festival, presented the Special Attention Award to two plays, On Her Own and Merry-go-round.

The Most Outstanding Artist award was presented by Stan Lai, co-founder and festival director, to Feng Li, a performer from On Her Own.

"In her performance, she infused the character of a mother, who has emotional traumas, with rich details, precise control and a well-balanced rhythm," the award citation stated.

The competition's top honor, Best Play award, was given by co-founder and festival chairman Chen Xianghong to the play Exit.

"Since 2013, we've had more than 10,000 young people sign up for the emerging theater artists' competition. Carrying their own theater dreams, they have come to Wuzhen from different places," Huang said.

"Perhaps when the festival comes to its 20th or 30th edition, a new artistic director of the committee will say, 'I was once one of those young people who participated in the emerging theater artists' competition.'"

Next year's Wuzhen Theater Festival is scheduled to take place from Oct 17 to 27, under the theme of Solidity, symbolizing "spirit like a torch, faith like a great rock".

"I hope that Wuzhen Theater Festival can become more diverse and refined in the future, a global celebration and a cultural emblem of China," Chen expressed his vision for the festival.

"By leveraging the rich cultural events hosted at the Muxin Art Museum and contemporary art exhibitions, we aim to attract different styles of theater art to Wuzhen, as well as the vital forces leading China's theater art scene, so that Wuzhen Theater Festival can gain more recognition."