What to see at Wuzhen Theatre Festival

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For theater lovers, the visual feast at Wuzhen Theatre Festival, which runs from October 19 to October 29 at Wuzhen, southeast China’s Zhejiang Province, probably would give you a decidophobia, since there are too many good shows to choose.

Twenty-four plays from 13 countries including Russia, Germany, the UK, the US, Australia and Switzerland, as well as a series of forums and workshops run across the town during the 10-day festival. It’s hard to keep your wallets safe.

In case you are still struggling to figure out what’s out there and what to see, CGTN would like to help you find the answer by highlighting some of them.

The hardest

As the artistic director, Tian Qinxin admitted that three plays were the hardest for them to invite, including “Shadow (Eurydice Speaks)” from Germany, "Eugene Onegin" from Russia and "The Seagull" from Lithuania.

A poster for 'Shadow (Eurydice Speaks)'/Photo via the official website for Wuzhen Theatre Festival

Shadow (Eurydice Speaks)

The play was written by Austrian writer Elfriede Jelinek, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature for her work "Piano Teacher" in 2004.

The main characters of the show were based on Greek mythology character Orpheus and Eurydice, who were known for their fateful love.

There are many different adaptions of their love stories yet most were through a male-dominated theme.

The name of Jelinek’s version, “Eurydice Speaks,” gives a hint that this version is trying to tell a different story through a woman’s standpoint.

This time, the version at Wuzhen was directed by British director Katie Mitchell who brings multimedia methods and camera language into her play.

A poster for 'Eugene Onegin'/Photo via the official website for Wuzhen Theatre Festival

Eugene Onegin

This play was adapted from renowned Russian writer Alexander Pushkin’s novel of the same name, which is a widely known literature in Russia. It has been adapted into different forms in the past including ballet, opera and drama.

The version came to Wuzhen was directed by director Rimas Tuminas.

A poster for 'Seagull'/Photo via the official website for Wuzhen Theatre Festival

Seagull

“Seagull” from Oskaras Korunovas Theare (OKT) in Lithuania is among the most anticipated plays this time in Wuzhen. OKT is one of the most influential theaters in Lithuania founded by award-winning director OSkaras Korsunovas.

Seagull is also a well-known Chekhov's drama which breaks theater traditions – removing all the dramas, but leaving the simplest ordinary life.

Premieres

Three plays will have their world premieres at Wuzhen, they are "Fantomas: Revenge of the Image" from the US, “The Legend of the Three Heroes” and "In Justice to Tou’o" from China.

A poster for 'Fantomas: Revenge of the Image'/Photo via the official website for Wuzhen Theatre Festival

However, they are among the most popular shows at Wuzhen as tickets were all sold-out very soon when the booking was open.

In fact, the Wuzhen Theatre Festival turns out to be way too popular as most shows were already sold out. But here is the good news, the organizing committee provide a limited amount of tickets at the booking office. If you are lucky, there are still chances to get one.

Even you can’t get any ticket, Wuzhen is still a good place to hang out. Workshops, reading events, and carnivals are taking place across this old town.