Nestled in the heart of the Yangtze River Delta in east China, the historic water town of Wuzhen is enveloped in a general air of festivity and extravagance as this year's Wuzhen Theatre Festival kicked off Friday evening with dozens of diverse activities and thousands of performances.

In the next two weeks, the 1,300-year-old water town will be jarred out of its nostalgic dream-sleep by the forces of avant performing arts.

The annual theatrical event, in its seventh edition, will present a total of 141 performances of 28 plays from 13 countries and regions, with some of them gracing the stage in Wuzhen for the first time.

At the helm of renowned Russian contemporary director Yury Butusov, Anton Chekhov's masterpiece "Three Sisters" will be shown at the Wuzhen Grand Theatre, kicking off the 10-day grand theatrical celebration.

Known for his poetic and associative directing technique, Butusov will present the well-known story through melody and rhythm, rather than only focusing on the linear progression of the play.

The 270-minute Russian play, featuring the St. Petersburg Lensoviet Academic Theatre, is a jumping-off point for other "Specially Invited Plays" – one of the festival's highlights – from both Chinese and international directors and theaters.

Along with Yury Butusov, luminaries of the theatrical world, such as leading theater directors Peter Brook, Eugenio Barba, Theodoros Terzopoulos, Konstantin Bogomolov, Philippe Genty and Michael Thalheimer, are also staging their masterpieces during the festival.

A majority of the plays will embrace new adaptations based on the local theaters with traditional Chinese-style stages and architectures full of antique beauty, as well as the surrounding natural environment.

Among them is the iconic Water Theatre, which is surrounded by the 7,000 square-meter Yuanbao Lake and local iconic buildings dating back to the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911).

It is set to stage two of the major productions. One is "The Fairy Queen" by Polish director Michał Znaniecki, which is based on Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night Dream" and Polish romantic poems. The other is Euripides's classic "The Trojan Women" directed by Theodoros Terzopoulos, president of the International Committee of the Theater Olympiad and Greek Attis Theatre.

The Polish play will be presented from Saturday to Monday on the open-air stage of the Water Theatre. Performed on the water, the play will see its actors and singers moving about in boats, amid projections displayed on water screens. 

"The Trojan Women" will be shown from October 31 to November 2.

Under the theme of "Emerge," this year's festival seeks to encourage more bold inspirations and to push boundaries of different art forms, conveying a message that theater is constantly evolving with new energies.

During the event, the ancient water town will observe more pioneering ideas and bold creation. Among them is the play "From Morn to Midnight," which runs for nearly five hours from 1:30 a.m. until sunrise.

In this show, up-and-coming director in the Chinese theatrical arena Chen Minghao will showcase avant-garde design and performance techniques.

The festival also serves as a showcase platform for talented youth. Eighteen creative groups will perform their works on a given theme in the Youth Theatre Artists Competition.

Only four of them will vie for the final awards, but all of the young drama enthusiasts can present their ideas and performance to the producers and theater lovers from across the country and all over the world.

Another major component of the festival, the outdoor carnival, shout not be missed, as the striking event seamlessly transforms every corner of the town into a stage, from the wooden boats to the stone bridges.

In the ensuing 10 days, the carnival is turning the canal town into a stage, showcasing thousands of creative shows presented by hundreds of art performance groups from at home and abroad under the slogan "All Wuzhen is a stage."

Visitors are provided with a visual feast featuring traditional Chinese opera, contemporary drama, music and dance, multimedia and technology, photography, installation art and trans-boundary creativity.

The strong lineup includes unorthodox performances of international classics, such as Shakespeare's "Hamlet,"  local avant-garde offerings like "The Way Alone," a feminist opera piece featuring legendary Chinese female poet Li Qingzhao, and the experimental "Symbiosis".

Dialogues, workshops, reading events and more diverse activities also provide ample opportunities for the theater lovers to expand and deepen their Wuzhen experience.

The Wuzhen Theatre Festival will run through November 3.

Stay tuned to CGTN for more following coverage from Wuzhen!

Click to learn more:

Live: Freestyle dance with unicorns at Wuzhen Outdoor Carnival

Live: Sing with the Fairy Queen at Wuzhen's Water Theatre

Live: Meet young 'veteran' actors before Wuzhen Theatre Festival

(Cover image and infographic designed by Liu Shaozhen)