Chinese theater set to wow audiences at Edinburgh Fringe

China Focus marked the launch of its inaugural annual theatre showcase at the Edinburgh Fringe last week. The event kicked off a run of seven Chinese productions at the UK's famous theatre festival till August 28.

Key players from the China Focus project converged in one of the country's creative capitals for this event, along with officials from the Chinese cultural sector, the Fringe, the Scottish government, and members of the press.

Xiang Xiaowei, Minister Counselor of Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of the People's Republic of China to the UK, expressed his wish that the project would help audiences worldwide get a glimpse of the rapid development of current Chinese culture and arts based on inherited and innovated aspects of its traditional legacy.

China Focus is Edinburgh Fringe Festival's celebration of excellence in Chinese theatre and dramatic production, with all of the high quality art performances supported by the Bureau for External Cultural Relations under China's Ministry of Culture.

Each program to be staged is a contemporary show that blends both China's traditional and contemporary creative currents. Promoting Chinese heritage and cultural products among international markets, this year's showcase features the dramatic and audiovisual intrigue of Luocha Land, The Dreamer, China Goes Pop, The Boor, New City New Sound, Macbeth, and Treasure Trove of Shadow. Traditional Chinese opera, dance, acrobatics, shadow art, as well as modern jazz and pop music, fuse in a program like nothing that has been staged at the festival before.

Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Festival Fringe Society, said that the launch of China Focus at the 70th anniversary of Edinburgh Festival would signal further collaboration between China and the Fringe.

In 2018 and beyond, China Focus will continue to grow as a mainstay of Edinburgh Fringe's Chinese cultural showcase, bringing exciting, innovative, and weighty productions to the Fringe. The project will continue to blend and bridge the two increasingly diverse and innovative cultural melting pots in both the UK and China.