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The press conference for the 2023 Guilin Festival and the Global Young Chinese Elites Project of Theater Directors [Photo provided to higuilin.com.cn]
On July 5th, a press conference for the 2023 Guilin Festival and the Global Young Chinese Elites Project of Theater Directors was held in Beijing.
Embracing the Splendor of Nature: Guilin Festival Awaits
The festival will be held from October 27th to November 5th. With the theme of "Coexistence", this year's festival embodies the spirit of "Beauty and Harmony in Coexistence" in Chinese culture. It fully explores Guilin's landscape and customizes exciting activities and performances with strong local cultural features. The event includes sections for domestic and international theatrical performances, high-definition film screenings of plays, and the World Theatre Education Alliance (WTEA) .
The first Guilin Festival was held in December 2022. With the theme "A Rendezvous with Mountains and Rivers, Theatrical Guilin", the 2022 festival featured a series of events such as thematic forums, artistic salons, theatrical performances, street parades, music parties, and art lectures. It featured 29 outstanding domestic and international plays and held 128 performances in 10 unique indoor and outdoor venues such as the Xiangshan Scenic Area and the Seven-Star Cave, attracting over 100,000 enthusiastic audiences. The related online topics garnered a total of over 1 billion views.
The press conference for the 2023 Guilin Festival and the Global Young Chinese Elites Project of Theater Directors [Photo provided to higuilin.com.cn]
Aspiring and Brave: Gathering of Young Talents
The 2023 Global Young Chinese Elites Project of Theater Directors nurtures young Chinese theater talents with global perspectives and outstanding innovative abilities. It serves as a comprehensive platform for talent development and the promotion of works, providing end-to-end support and services to young theater practitioners. Since the initiation of the "Young Talents Project", more than 300 directors and over 350 works have registered to participate, with overseas applicants accounting for 14% of the total. It has become one of the most highly regarded and extensive theater director recruitment projects in recent years, attracting a significant number of submissions. Following intense competition involving online preliminary evaluations, on-site defenses, and scene performances, 10 works have stood out and entered the full production incubation stage, promising an exciting showcase at the end of August.
Commissioned Works Shine on the International Stage
In addition to the remarkable works brought by the young theater talents, the commissioned works section of the "Young Talents Project" is equally captivating. The organizing committee of the Guilin Festival has invited outstanding representatives of the domestic middle-aged directors, Huang Ying and Zhao Miao, as promoters. They have created the works "Journey to the West (2023)" and "Mother Courage and Her Children" for the festival. These works are set to debut at the Edinburgh Festival in August, representing the Guilin Festival and competing for the Asian Arts Award.
Director Huang's new play, "Journey to the West (2023)", infuses Chinese classics with national and international characteristics. It not only highlights Chinese traditional culture but also engages in a dialogue with world theater. Director Zhao's theater piece, "Mother Courage and Her Children", seeks to explore unique Chinese content within this world classic and employs forms such as physicality and masks in its creation. Although these two works differ in form, theme, perspective, and creative approach, they are both dedicated to integrating traditional Chinese art forms into stage presentations, allowing traditional Chinese culture to thrive on the world stage.
