Chinese adaptations hit center stage in festival

The Chinese-language premiere of Australian playwright Suzie Miller's internationally acclaimed play Inter Alia will be the centerpiece of the 2026 National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) International Theatre Festival in Beijing, which opens on June 12.

The production, directed by Zhou Ke and starring actress Yao Chen and actor Bao Jianfeng, will run during the festival from July 23 to 26 before embarking on a nationwide tour.

According to Zhao Fei, the deputy director of the NCPA's performance department, this year's festival is set to bring an unprecedented scale: 136 days, more than 100 performances, and 26 productions from China, Russia, France, Chile, and other countries and regions.

The festival brings together world-class artists spanning classical masterpieces, contemporary theater, youth works, and experimental performance. It will be held across five major venues, including the NCPA and the Beijing Performing Arts Centre, with four curated sections. At a launch event on June 3, festival organizers highlighted both the international and domestic strength of the program.

Inter Alia stands out as a Chinese-language adaptation of Miller's legal trilogy, following her global hit Prima Facie, a powerful one-woman play, which Zhou adapted in 2023.