Young artists look at life's dilemmas

Wuzhen Theatre Festival brings together directors, playwrights and producers to compete with themes of humanity and self-exploration, Xing Wen reports in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province.

One day, Huang Lei, one of the creators of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, was lounging at home when his eyes fell upon a toy dinosaur perched on the table.

In a sudden burst of inspiration, the "giant dinosaur" became one of this year's thematic prompts for the annual theater festival's Emerging Theatre Artists Competition.

For this year's competition, participants were challenged to craft original theatrical pieces that incorporate three elements — pillows, sunlight and giant dinosaurs — with a length not exceeding half an hour.

The first two keywords were contributed by seasoned theater directors Meng Jinghui and Stan Lai, who are also among the creators of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, set in Wuzhen, a water town in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province.

The festival received 560 submissions for this year's competition. Eighteen standout theater groups emerged to display their works for rounds throughout the Wuzhen Theatre Festival last month.

Drawing from the three seemingly disparate elements, the 18 plays explore a variety of themes, including family bonds, love, life and death, solitude, human dignity and women's rights.

The play Amy Zhang Returns to Her Hometown, featuring three actors who use modern dance to portray the dilemma faced by a 30-year-old woman from a small county working in the bustling city of Shanghai, won the top prize in the competition.

The play depicts protagonist Amy Zhang's journey back home, weaving together elements of reality and memory.

Zhang left her hometown following the gaokao, or college entrance exam, and yearned to realize her self-worth in the big city.

However, she felt trapped in a demanding job with long hours and cramped living conditions, struggling to find true joy in a fast-paced urban setting. Returning to her hometown, she discovers that years of urban life reshaped her, making her feel out of place in her familiar childhood surroundings.

Standing at the crossroads of her 30s, Zhang is unsure of the next steps as she thinks about her future. Will she stay in Shanghai or go back to her hometown?

For the play's director and scriptwriter, Zhai Bowen, this award was "redemption". Like her character, Zhai, 35, was also grappling with a dilemma before clinching the prize.

Zhai discovered her passion for theater while studying at the Shanghai International Studies University. Although her major was in the School of Journalism and Communication, she devoted much of her spare time to the university's theatrical troupe.

Instead of pursuing a job related to her field of study, Zhai started her career as a theater producer and program manager at the Shanghai 1933 Micro Theatre.

At 28, she began pursuing a master's degree in theater directing at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in the United Kingdom. After completing her studies, she became an indie theater director.

Last year, her first self-written and self-directed play We're How We Eat premiered. While the play was relatively well-received by audiences, it did not receive the industry recognition Zhai hoped for.

"I fell into self-doubt. I didn't choose a stable job that most people opt for, but it seems like I haven't made much progress on the path I've chosen," she reflects.

"Could a theater producer position with greater demand be a more suitable path for my livelihood compared to being an indie theater director?"

This conflict plagued her.

Before entering the competition, she thought, "This is my last chance."

Zhai's success in the competition provided her with an answer.

"The Wuzhen Theatre Festival is one of the most prominent in the country. Because of this award, theaters have reached out to me and producers want to meet me. This is a career breakthrough," she says.

Reflecting on her stay in Wuzhen, Zhejiang, she pinpointed two of her happiest moments.

"One day, a young man working as a service person at the theater from Northeast China approached me with tears in his eyes after watching the performance and shared how deeply moved he was by it.

"Another day, during outdoor rehearsal, some elderly folks said that after watching the play, they felt that young people today have it tough and that they could better understand their own children.

"I cherish these moments of building connections with the audience through the work," she says.

She plans to expand the play to around 60 minutes and then makes touring performances in small theaters.

"I am now more convinced that I can continue on this path," she adds.

In the play Baby Boxes, Xu Linlin, who serves as the playwright, director and lead actress, presents a fictional story about two female dinosaurs who have been living in a dark cave and have never found the courage to step into the sunlight.

One day, they come across an unidentified object that they believe is a dinosaur egg but is actually a pillow.

As the two dinosaurs attempt to hatch this "dinosaur egg", a tragic story about their origins emerges — they were both abandoned by their parents in this cave, never having seen the outside world and too afraid to step into the scorching sunlight.

The play combines humor and tears, discussing themes of life, love and growth. At the end of the play, clips of a documentary from 10 years ago are shown on a screen, revealing a real story. The entire play serves as a metaphor for real world.

On Children's Day on June 1,2014, the Children's Welfare Institute of Jinan, Shandong province, opened the Baby Safety Island as a place to shelter abandoned infants.

The documentary clips shown on the screen capture scenes of the children, filmed by a friend of Xu.

On June 1 this year, Xu got the documentary from the friend, and watched the film intently on a train.

"I couldn't calm down for a long time. It's hard to blame anyone in the documentary," she says.

The 31-year-old theater teacher from Minzu University of China immediately wanted to express something through a play to think about love and responsibility.

"Bringing attention back to this story 10 years later is valuable amid the current intense discussions among young people about their reproductive choices," she says.

She adds that bringing the play to the Wuzhen Theatre Festival is a dream come true.

"All the staff here respect us and have given us a lot of creative space," Xu says. She won the special attention award during the festival.

Over the past 11 years, the Wuzhen Theatre Festival has provided a platform for young theater enthusiasts to display their talents, inspiring them to continue creating innovative works.

A total of 179 original plays have been chosen for the Emerging Theatre Artists Competition, with over 11,000 young individuals registering.

Many of these participants are now active in the theater community.

In addition to the competition, the festival aims to offer more opportunities to young people through various events, including the newly added Granary Reverie, a segment featuring experimental plays with a runtime of around one hour.

The Wuzhen Theatre Festival is also providing opportunities for young international theater artists seeking more opportunities.

For example, Bianca Thomas, who recently obtained her master's degree in directing at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna, Austria, brought her diploma production K.I. and Abel to the Wuzhen stage as a special invitation this year.

Exploring the role of AI in today's society and the responsibility of those who program it, she developed the script with the assistance of ChatGPT.

"I never imagined I could bring my work to Asia so soon," she says.

Reflecting on the experience, she mentions that her most memorable moment was the work's debut in Wuzhen.

"We didn't know how the Chinese audience would react. It was exciting to hear their applause and calls for 'director' after the show," she says.

Thomas says theater festivals are a chance to network with other directors, stage designers and musicians.

Contact the writer at xingwen@chinadaily.com.cn