Global plays bring arts fest to historic theater
"The Bald Soprano" by Romanian-French playwright Eugene Lonesco
Sixteen performances from world-renowned troupes and directors will be performed at the historic Great Theater of China from June to October during its annual festival.
The opening show will be “The Bald Soprano” by Romanian-French playwright Eugene Lonesco.
The iconic play from the Theater of the Absurd will also be making its Asian debut.
Other popular performances include “An Iliad,” a solo drama by famous Broadway actor Denis O’Hare, and “Othello” from English Touring Theatre.
The theater has appointed playwright Tian Qinxin as its artistic director. She will present her masterpiece “Red Rose & White Rose” with young actors and actresses from the Shanghai Theater Academy.
The play is based on the work of Eileen Chang, or Zhang Ailing (1920-1995), a famous modern Chinese writer.
The shows include stage dramas, musicals, multimedia works and experimental dramas.
They are created by both world-renowned troupes and directors, and young Chinese directors. Most of them are based on classic novels or plays, said Tian.
“It will be an arts festival of cultural exchanges around the world,” she said. “The theater is also expected to become a ‘Shanghai legend.’”
The theater, formerly the San-Xing Theater, at 704 Niuzhuang Road in downtown Huangpu District was built in 1930 as one of the city’s four major Peking Opera venues.
Peking Opera masters Mei Lanfang, Cheng Yanqiu and Yuan Shihai often performed there. From the 1950s, it became a popular stage for all kinds of Chinese traditional opera. The building was listed as a protected structure in 2005.
A renovation was launched in October 2012 by the Shanghai Ever Shining Cultural Group, operator of the venue, and UK theater design firm RHWL. Seating has been restored to its three-story layout in keeping with the original design.
The festival is part of Huangpu’s plan to create a “Show Life” area near People’s Square.
The area will host 15,000 performances this year, 50 percent more than last year, according to the district government.
"Othello" performed by the English Touring Theatre
"An Iliad," a monodrama of famous Broadway actor Denis O'Hare
