Theater festival promises performances to remember

From July 6 to 14, Hamlet will be shown at the Beijing Performing Arts Centre, a new venue of the NCPA that opened to the public in December 2023.

A Midsummer Night's Dream, according to the director Guan, will also be staged during the festival from July 6 to 14 with a new version, which is made exclusively for the outdoor stage at the Beijing Performing Arts Centre.

"It has been eight years since we premiered A Midsummer Night's Dream and for the first time, it will be staged outdoors in a park near the Beijing Performing Arts Centre. The real forest atmosphere will make the production more immersive and romantic compared to indoor theaters," says Guan.

With this year marking the 125th birthday of Lao She (1899-1966), an iconic modern Chinese writer, the festival will feature Rickshaw Boy, a play based on his classic novel of the same title. It will be staged at the NCPA from July 17 to 19.

Rickshaw Boy is considered a masterpiece of 1930s Chinese literature, centering on Xiangzi, a poor young man from the countryside who comes to Beijing to become a rickshaw puller. Its dramatic treatment of everyday details, vivid portrayal of characters and vibrant capturing of Beijing life lends itself to adaptation in a variety of forms, including films, plays and operas.