A Tale of Two Theater Festivals

By BAI SHI

A Tale of Two Theater Festivals

By BAI SHI

Avignon, France, and China’s capital city share a common bond in theater

For drama performance lovers, the weeks surrounding the Mid-Autumn Festival(September 12) proved to be joyous and busy in China’s capital: Fifty-seven plays were staged at 11 theaters in Beijing by troupes from 12 countries as the 2011 Beijing Fringe Festival (BFF) was held on September 5-25.

As the fourth Beijing International Youth Theater Festival, this year’s BFF embraced the theme of “Hello, World” and expressed the organizer’s emphasis on international communication. The BFF not only invited international drama troupes to perform,but also established ties with the Avignon Theater Festival of France.

In July, the organizers of the BFF led a delegation of Chinese performing artists to attend the 65th Avignon Theater Festival,the world’s most reputed, to exchange ideas and experience with international partners.For the Beijing festival, the BFF also created a special unit and invited six performances from the Avignon Festival’s Off unit for the fi rst time.

Communication among theaters

The Avignon Theatre Festival (ATF) has become an essential summer event in France since its creation by French theater director Jean Vilar in 1947. This summer, Avignon in southern France was “colored” with a brilliant Chinese red due to participation from Chinese drama troupes.

ADAPTED PLAY:The drama Cruel Count, directed by Pei Kuishan and performed in Beijing on September 15, was adapted from French playwright Antonin Artaud’s work

VISIONARY: Chinese art director Meng Jinghui attends the first “China Day”event during the Avignon Theater Festival Off unit on July 10

The Avignon festival is divided into two parts: In and Off. Festival Off is unof fi cial,created by artists in 1966, and open to all artists to show their performances and works.Six Chinese dramas recommended by BFF and Beijing Young Dramatists Association(BYDA) took the stage at Avignon , receiving praise from French audiences at Avignon Festival Off from July 8 to 31.

On July 10, “China Day” kicked off at the Popes Palace of Avignon, marking the fi rst of fi cial debut of Chinese modern drama at the renowned theater festival.

“We would like to present our Chinese dramas and local Beijing dramas to the world through this activity and allow more audiences, especially French audiences to have a better appreciation of Chinese dramas,”said Wang Peng, Deputy Director of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture, at the China Day event.

“I love Chinese culture. Chinese dramas, either modern or traditional, both fully embody Chinese characteristics. We will visit Beijing in September and exchange ideas and whatnot on dramas with Chinese counterparts,” said Greg Germain, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of Avignon Theater Festival’s Off unit.

“China Kisses” was the slogan of the Chinese delegation in Avignon. General Art Director of BFF Meng Jinghui said,“Kissing is a romantic way of saying ‘hello’for the French, while in China it represents a promise. We bring Chinese dramas here to say hello to international theater circles and French audiences, and we promise Chinese dramas will be back next year.”

Though this was not the fi rst time China attended the ATF, it differed from last year’s appearance.

“Usually, we like to showcase traditional Chinese opera, such as Peking Opera, to foreign spectators during cultural communication. This summer we staged six modern Chinese dramas in Avignon, which were featured with innovative ideas of young Chinese dramatists to show the new achievements of Chinese dramas,” Meng said. “The premieres of these Chinese dramas have won the warm applause of audiences in France.”

Dramas that combine traditional Chinese stories with innovative ideas and modern elements can be massively popular among Western audiences. For instance,Cooking a Dream, directed by young playwright Huang Ying, was praised by audiences during the Avignon festival, due to its fantastic story and excellent performance. The story, originating from the Tang Dynasty (618 - 917)and already widely known among Chinese,had never been shown in France before.

Cooking a Dreamtells the legendary story of Lu, a young man eager for fortune and fame. While dreaming, Lu’s fantasies come true: He is rich and wins the emperor’s favor but eventually is accused of a crime,sentenced and dies. The story expresses a philosophy of life—a Chinese proverb says that glory, honor, and wealth are nothing but shadows.

“We want to tell a traditional Chinese story for Western audiences. The success ofCooking a Dreamstrengthens my confidence and makes me clear about how to create drama,” said Huang.

“Foreign playwrights and audiences gasped with admiration at the superb skills of the performers and the wisdom of Chinese philosophy. A French spectator told me that this play was easy to understand even with-out the help of subtitles,” Huang said. “China has great philosophy and splendid culture.Today, we must combine the valuable heritage with modern art to create new dramas.”

Fostering cultural creativity

“The purpose of the BFF is also to cultivate China’s young dramatists. Our work has helped invigorate the theaters and nurture the creations. Chinese dramas have become increasingly creative in recent years,” said Meng.

The annual BFF has attracted more and more young people since its launch in 2008.The number of works has increased to 57 from 11 in 2008.

“BFF is dedicated to cultivating young playwrights, directors and performers for Chinese drama circles and encourage original works,” said young director Shao Zehui, Secretary General of Beijing Young Dramatists Association. “We offer young artists an open stage for free so that they can use their imagination to create various new works without worrying about the cost or box of fi ce performance of their plays.”

Shao also said that modern dramas were not as diverse as audiences expect in China.Playwrights and directors often give up their original ideas and make compromises to cater to investors’ tastes for the sake of popularity. For this reason, Beijing Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the National Theater of China decided to sponsor the BFF to support young dramatists from 2008.

“We hope that more and more works could be staged during Beijing’s theater festival. Only through staging more plays and offering more choices, can the audience pick what they like best and can the repertoire of Chinese modern dramas be enriched,” Shao said.

A lifestyle

Over 65 years, Avignon has become a theater town each summer. However, it is not easy to make drama appreciation a popular lifestyle in Avignon.

Jean Vilar, the founder of Avignon Theater Festival, had committed his life to making dramas more popular. The success of Avignon is the result of concerted efforts of French playwrights who worked for more than half a century. Since Festival Off was created in 1966, Avignon was open to all troupes and public interest continued to grow.

The BFF is not only nurturing creativity,but also cultivating an atmosphere for drama appreciation in Beijing. Modern drama has a 104-year history in China. Many brilliant works and outstanding figures emerged and became reputed on the stage during its development. But like other performing arts, drama has suffered a setback in the last 20 years, due to the multi-media recreation boom.

“Avignon Festival teaches us a lot on developing modern drama in China,” said Huang. “But we cannot copy their patterns because we have different conditions and we must combine our own features.”

Many artists choose Beijing to live and pursue their career because the capital is not only China’s center of politics and economy,but also the country’s most inclusive and diverse hub of arts. Its unique artistic atmosphere is conducive to production of any art genre from pop music to drama and opera.

“Beijing has large audiences who like dramas. It doesn’t need tourists to fi ll the theaters during the summer like Avignon does.So performing arts have huge potential for development in Beijing,” said Huang.

Like many other artists who participate in the theater festival, Huang believes that through their hard work, the day when drama becomes a lifestyle in Beijing, just as it is now in Avignon, will soon come.

“The BFF will be a vigorous and in fl uential cultural event of the living art in China,”he said.