Shanghai

Sixteen plays from more than 10 countries and regions will be staged at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center (SDAC) through Dec 11, as the 2011 ACT Shanghai International Contemporary Theater Festival continues.

ACT, the original Asian Contemporary Theater, was held by SDAC first in 2005, and has since been a major occasion to introduce outstanding contemporary theatrical works to Shanghai, as well as a platform for international communications.

Among this year's most anticipated project is Top Secret: The Battle for the Pentagon Papers, a theatrical docudrama by L.A. Theatre Works, USA. "Audiences are likely to find familiar characters from popular American TV series, and the play is different from anything that has been shown in the Chinese theatrical scene," says Pearl Wang, a spokeswoman for ACT 2011. Top Secret will be staged evenings from Nov 22-26, followed by a matinee show Nov 27 at 2 pm.

Two musicals will be staged: With Love, William Shakespeare by the Nior Theater from Hong Kong Nov 14-16, and Red Red Shoes by Consol Theater, Germany on Nov 17 and 18.

Both are modern interpretation of classic pieces. The Nior Theater production presents four episodes of modern people trapped in Shakespearean situations of Romeo and Juliet, Twelfth Night, The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Hong Kong actors will present the story and sing the songs in English, with Chinese subtitles.

Red Red Shoes tells about a little girl's unusual experience because of a special pair of red shoes - how she goes through alienation from family and loved ones, ends up in a refugee camp where she gathers herself up and tries change people around her, who are filled with hatred and desire for revenge.

There will be two puppet shows, The Happy Prince from Taiwan on Nov 18 and 19, and Love of Seven Dolls in Hebrew, by artists from Israel, Dec 3 and 4.

A new genre, gestual theater, will be introduced at ACT 2011, which is presented through physical performance rather than language or facial expression. The Unholy Trinity by the Tongue Tied Theater will be performed from Nov 14-16 and Andre and Dorine by Kulunka Theater from Spain from Dec 1-3.

SDAC's production of Luxun Blossoms, a physical theater production, shares some common elements with gestual theater. The play incorporates some of Lu Xun's most popular short stories, with five to seven actors playing 20 to 30 different roles on a minimalist stage design.

SDAC will also bring its original production Das Kapital for a few more performances from Dec 8-18, before touring to Europe next year. Actors will illustrate the economic theories of Karl Marx through songs and dance and stories of the modern business world.

China Daily

(China Daily 11/13/2011 page15)