After two years of separation, on September 6, the press conference of the 8th Wuzhen Drama Festival was held, with the theme of "Mao", 24 plays and 66 performances, and from October 15 to October 24, 12 theaters in Wuzhen will be unveiled, including a number of Shanghai originals.
"The Red and the Black", adapted by Meng Jinghui based on the novel of French writer Stendhal, will premiere at the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, and Mei Ting and Zhang Bencheng will show their self-esteem and inferiority, ambition and temptation, climbing and falling. Following Wuzhen's "One Cave" in 2019, director Lai Shengchuan came to Wuzhen with "Once Upon a Time", further touching on the proposition that "life is only a projection of reality".
Performance schedule
The six dramatists Liu Xiaoye, Zhao Xiaosu, Wu Bi, Ding Yiteng, Liu Xiaoyi and Liu Tianqi in the variety show "Drama New Life" who came out of the Wuzhen Drama Festival returned to Wuzhen. Directed by Liu Xiaoye and co-performed by Liu Xiaoyi, Ding Yiteng, Zhao Xiaosu and Wu Bi, "Heart" is adapted from the novella "Dog Heart" by Russian writer Bulgakov, with an absurd and humorous style. Director Liu Xiaoyi, together with Liu Xiaoye, Wu Biteng, Ding Yiteng, Zhao Xiaosu and Liu Tianqi, brought the closing drama "About Planet 23" of "Drama New Life", which presents the lonely process of children from their imaginative childhood to adulthood and loss of childlike heart in the form of puppet plays. Directed by Ding Yiteng, Liu Xiaoye, Zhao Xiaosu, Wu Bi and Liu Tianqi, "Reflection" returned to the Water Theater. The play is adapted from Wilde's novel The Portrait of Dowling Gray, which expresses the confrontation between good and evil in human nature. Written and directed by Liu Tianqi, and co-starring with Wu Pi and Liu Xiaoyi, "Brazil" tells the relationship and emotions between robots and humans in the future world in a delicate way. "The Story of the Chicken Farm" was widely acclaimed as the opening play of "Drama New Life". This time, Liu Xiaoye, Zhao Xiaosu, Liu Xiaoyi, Wu Bi, Ding Yiteng, and Liu Tianqi staged "The Story of the Chicken Farm" again, telling the story of the chicken Xiaolan bravely moving forward and not afraid of hardship to see the sea.
"Sunrise" is one of the masterpieces of drama master Cao Yu, which has become a stage classic since its premiere in 1937. "Sunrise", which came to the Wuzhen Theater Festival this time, is the return of dancer Venus to the stage, she is the first time to direct, and in the play, one person plays two roles. This drama deliberately weakens the relationship between the primary and secondary characters of the characters, presents various characters in the whole work in the form of group portraits, and externalizes and extends the emotions of the characters through the rich physical expression of modern dance. "Wilderness", reinterpreted by Director He Nian of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, breaks the time and space order of Cao Yu's original script, adopts a bold attempt of non-linear narrative, and uses "light" and "shadow" to combine dance to enrich the expressiveness, and stage a tragedy of love and hate, love and hatred.
Still
Shanghai director Zhou Ke and the other side of the troupe bring a new work "Hudak", using the Q&A between Hungarian architect Hudak and american immigration officers as a clue to tell the architect's turbulent and displaced life. Pu Cunxin, a member of the Wuzhen Drama Festival Art Committee, brought the first Tibetan undergraduate class graduation drama "Hamlet" of the Shanghai Theater Academy Acting Department to be reviewed by the audience. The Shanghai Theater Academy will also use the cross-border form of opera to reinterpret "Crush on Peach Blossom Garden", using Peking Opera to interpret the "Peach Blossom Garden" part of the play within a play, using Yue opera to interpret the "crush" part of the play within a play, and using the drama to interpret the part of "outside the play". Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Talk Show actors Yan Yi and Yan Yue wrote the screenplay, Yang Meng'en and Yang Kasa starred, and Lu Rui's work "Female Twins" will premiere in Wuzhen, depicting the experience of two "repetitive" women finding themselves in modern life.
A number of young choreographers who came out of the theater festival came to Wuzhen Theater again. Yang Zhefen, winner of the 2017 Youth Competition "Town Award", and He Qi, who was shortlisted for the 2018 Youth Competition, brought their new stage works. He Qi, the director of the shortlisted works in the 2018 Youth Competition Unit, joined hands with "Studios That Can't Sleep Well" to tell the story of a couple on the verge of emotional rupture by adapting Zheng Zhi's novel of the same name, "Thunderbolt", and rented a new house within the fourth ring road with twice the rent.
"False Beard" is the work of the French 18th century classical comedy master Marivo, and the performance team of this Wuzhen version is from the Central Academy of Drama, performed by a young teacher group. Marivo is considered to be the 18th-century Chekhov, whose plays are light and cheerful and philosophical, and are observations and reflections on the times in which he lived. This version of "False Mane" adds detective elements to the clever plot, disguise, control, desire, betrayal, illusion and social problems are combined in the same play, and the improvisation and freshness of the masquerade comedy performance give the stage performance vitality and freedom.
Young dancer Xie Xin and seven dancers from Xie Xin Dance Theatre brought "Five Voices", using the body as a medium to express their thoughts and understanding of the world in front of them. Beijing 9 Contemporary Dance Troupe "Seven Tricks of Smoke" is a work that focuses on human emotions and anger. Beijing Contemporary Ballet's "Wild Grass" shows the dancers' thoughts on Lu Xun's works with three movements: "Dead Fire", "Farewell of Shadow" and "Polar Dance".
This year's theatre festival has newly opened the Lake Theatre, which screens a number of classic masterpieces from the world's six major theatre festivals, such as the Edinburgh Festival, the Berlin Theatre Festival and the Avignon Theatre Festival.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Text Editor: Zhang Yi Photo Editor: Cao Liyuan
Source: Author: Zhuge Yi