Wuzhen Theater Festival showcases new theater experience

"The Spring Season of of Wuzhen Theater Festival" will fuse together a new theater experience for the coming Chinese New Year.

Bringing together masterpieces adapted from famous books, pioneering dramas, original new talents, dance dramas and other theatrical performances, the festival will present 14 performances in 14 days from February 11 to 24.

The five carefully chosen plays are "Disappeared without trace," "Romeo and Juliet," "Rhinoceros in Love," "Old Station," and "The Origin of Love."

Directed by young director Zhang Linyi, "Romeo and Juliet" is adapted from Shakespeare's legendary classic tragedy.

However, the script shifts time and space to the modern era under the explosion of information.

The characters in modern costumes with modern technological equipment reinterpret the ancient tragedy of love with a new perspective and modern concept.

When everyone in the city of Verona possesses the ability to stop the tragedy and dissolve the grudges, will it be possible to save love and melt the resentment away?

This production tries to explore the possibilities on the stage through the application of original lyrics and music, opera singing, dance performance, multimedia, and on-line photography.

Another highlight is "Rhinoceros in Love" written by Liao Yimei and directed by Meng Jinghui. The play premiered in 1999, and has been hailed as "a miracle of contemporary Chinese theater," and a leading work of pioneering theater.

Its fresh narrative style, performance method and stage design render the theater play a new mode in China. Those groundbreaking poetic lines have also become the collective memory of a generation of literary youth.

Wuzhen, which has a history of more than 6,000 years, has kept its original look and lifestyle as an ancient watertown. The well-preserved 16th-century architecture and stone bridges provide a great setting for theater, literature, and art performances.

Tickets: Please purchase via www.damai.cn

If you go:

By train: Take a high-speed train from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station or Shanghai South Railway Station to Jiaxing City, and then transfer to a bus or taxi to Wuzhen. You can also take a direct shuttle bus from the Jiaxing Bus Center to Wuzhen.

By bus: Take a long-distance bus from Shanghai East Bus Station to Wuzhen.

By car: Wuzhen is about 120 kilometers from Shanghai and the trip takes around two hours.