With a spotlight on him, a Chinese actor slowly descended from the stage and made his way through the aisles of a packed Cairo theater, delivering an anguished soliloquy amid warm applause.
It was one of several moments when performers of Liaozhai: Purple Tail, an experimental Chinese Xiju opera production, moved beyond the stage and into the audience during their performance at the 33rd Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre.
The Chinese production, presented by Wuxi Xiju Theatre, brought to life a story weaving together the human and supernatural worlds.
"For a moment, we felt we had been transported from Cairo to China," says Hamada Shousha, an Egyptian actor, director and theater professor at Heliopolis University.
"We did not just see and hear the story; we lived its atmosphere," he says, noting that "the costumes, music and presentation all carried a distinctly Chinese character".
The play follows Qiao Sheng, a kind and honest scholar who unexpectedly saves a fox maiden. In gratitude, she gives him a magical fox tail capable of granting any wish. Armed with this power, Qiao Sheng gradually succumbs to his desires, exposing the darker side of human nature.
