Grim play makes China debut

"When the crime happened, I was 16 years old and I remember joining the parade to protest the criminal," recalls Versteele, who was born in Leuven, Belgium, in 1980. "I think the play is as persuasive as it is direct and touching."

Shirin Sojitrawalla, theater critic and juror at the Theatertreffen, says Five Easy Pieces was selected last year as an example of a work based on political elements.

The current Theatertreffen jury consists of seven theater critics, who watch around 400 productions a year and select the 10 most remarkable new productions after several rounds of voting and discussion.

"As a jury, we want to find the script that is relevant, whether is to politics, or a poem, or other topics," says Sojitrawalla. "Five Easy Pieces is based on a murderer's life, but also shows what good theater can do－a play can have many effects, and get the audience involved."

Theatertreffen in China 2018, which started on June 30, runs through July 14. Besides the performance of Five Easy Pieces, performances of Three Sisters, Kill your Darlings! Streets of Berladelphia and Purgatory in Ingolstadt are being shown at Goethe-Institut China in Beijing.