At 14:00 local time on March 24, france, the organizing committee of the Avignon Drama Festival held a press conference in the form of online video and announced the list of repertoire of the 2022 annual drama festival. The 76th Avignon Theatre Festival will take place from 7 to 26 July. It is worth noting that Chinese director Meng Jinghui's new drama "The Seventh Day" will usher in the world premiere as the official commissioned play of this year's Avignon Theatre Festival. This is also Meng Jinghui's second entry into the IN unit of the Avignon Theatre Festival after "The Tea House".
Poster for the 76th Avignon Theatre Festival
Three years ago, Meng Jinghui's version of "The Tea House" was invited to participate in the Avignon Theatre Festival as the first Chinese mainland repertoire, creating a piece of history. Three years later, this time, the new work once again participated in the theater festival as a commissioned work.
The commission also began with the origins of "The Tea House", and Olivier P, the director of the Avignon Theatre Festival, liked it very much after watching the play three years ago, excitedly ran backstage to hug the director and the actors, and said that it was one of the best theatrical works he had ever seen. Out of recognition and trust in the director, the theater festival commissioned Meng Jinghui's new work to participate again this year. It was also the first time since its founding in 1947 that the Avignon Theatre Festival commissioned Chinese mainland artists to create theatrical works.
This time, "The Seventh Day" is adapted from the novel of the same name by Yu Hua, a well-known contemporary Chinese writer, and the play is currently in the creative rehearsal period. The crew did not disclose much information about the show, but said that Meng Jinghui would explore with a number of outstanding Chinese artists. Judging from the posters released so far, actor and director Chen Minghao will become one of the key creators of this new drama.
"The Seventh Day"
"The Seventh Day" is also after "Alive", Meng Jinghui once again adapted Yu Hua's novel. Published in 2013, Yu Hua's "Seventh Day" is another novel he completed in seven years after "Brothers", in which he uses grotesque brushwork to depict a ukiyo-e of contemporary Chinese society, telling the story of an ordinary person who saw and heard seven days after his death. Using his social relations and the yin and yang worlds as the vein, he connects a world full of trance, memories and dreams.
It is reported that the play will have its world premiere at les Clo tre des Carmes Amphitheatre, an ancient monastery built in the 12th century in Avignon, with seven performances from 18 to 25 July 2022.
In addition, a speculative workshop on the theme of "China We Don't Know About Chinese Contemporary Drama And Drama" jointly organized by China-France and Avignon Theatre Festival will also be unveiled at this year's Theatre Festival, which is also a follow-up to the "Chinese Contemporary Theatre Directors, a New Avant-Garde Theatre Theatre". After that, the Avignon Theatre Festival held for the second time a cultural event related to the theme of Chinese theatre.
Sino-French Zongheng, which has been committed to Sino-French cultural exchanges and cooperation, also announced the list of all Chinese plays of the festival after the press conference. This year, a total of 19 theatrical works, 8 dance works, 5 cross-border works, 2 exhibitions, 1 group of poetry reading, 2 concerts, 1 cabaret totaling 38 works; in addition, the discussion and dialogue around the different themes of this year's theater festival by artists, scholars and audiences; the live cross-border experimental unit Vive le sujet! Let the creative process take place live at the theatre festival.
The planned performance venue is an open-air monastery