Play-reading festival offers platform for theater practitioners

"During the rehearsal process, playwrights get to work with directors and actors, reflect on their own writing and concepts, and then polish the script, which is helpful to their comprehensive growth in the future," Chen Si'an says.

Director Chen Ran concurs that the experience was also collaborative and rewarding: "One thing I especially like about theater work is that you are never fighting alone. To stage a play, we must work as a team, eating, resting and rehearsing together. Working to such a rigorous schedule can really help you realize your potential."

This year's festival saw four plays being staged, two written by Chinese playwrights and two from the United Kingdom. Support from the British Council made it possible for British plays to be staged in China, and for the playwrights to attend the performances and share their expertise.

When The Sewing Group was staged in Beijing on Oct 13, the writer sat in the audience to watch the performance.

"It was completely mind-blowing and thrilling. I found it very exciting to watch the play that I thought I was familiar with, reflected back in another language, another experience," Crowe says.

As far as the festival goes, Crowe says play reading is a great way to see new work without having to stage a full production, and a "brilliant way to connect British and Chinese writers".

"We really believe that arts and culture are one of the most powerful ways to bring together our people and to build more understanding," says Danny Whitehead, British Council's deputy country director for China.

"It's all about dialogue and about forming connections for mutual exchange. And I think one of the best things about the festival this week is you see that dialogue and you see those connections running all the way through it."