Friends use festival to stage theater dreams

They include French director Olivier Py, former artistic director of the Festival d'Avignon, who is producing Hamlet in the Imperative!, his adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy, Hamlet. Portuguese director Tiago Rodrigues, current artistic director of the Festival d'Avignon, will stage Entrelinhas, which explores the enigmatic relationship between writer and actor.

Japanese director Satoshi Miyagi, who is also artistic director of the World Theatre Festival Shizuoka, and who presented A Doll's House at last year's festival, will return with The Castle Tower, a love story drawing on elements of traditional Japanese theater.

Director of the Wiener Festwochen, Milo Rau, from Switzerland, will bring his play, The Interrogation, for which he worked with bestselling French author Edouard Louis to present a personal story about doubt and failure.

"We have traveled around the world to watch plays by different artists in different countries. We also staged performances at theater festivals around the world," Meng says. "This year, we are inviting the great artists we've met over the years back to our home here in China, which is like coming full circle, and is very fulfilling."

Meng's play, The Suicide, an adaptation of Russian playwright Nikolai Erdman's play of the same title, will be performed during the upcoming festival.

Last year, Chen experimented with an unconventional location and time slot for his play, Romeo and Juliet by the Sea. It took place at the Seaside Theater and began at 3 am. Night, dawn and sunrise all played important roles as the play unfolded.