From Berlin to Chile, Global Theater Comes to Wuzhen

The 13th Wuzhen Theater Festival will stage 25 productions from 10 countries at the historic water town from October 15 to 25, offering 71 performances across 12 venues over 11 days.

This year's theme is "Serene Transcendence." The festival lineup features 11 international productions from Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Austria, Greece, Belgium and Chile, alongside two Sino-foreign collaborations and 12 acclaimed Chinese works.

Wuzhen, in Zhejiang Province, is famous for its well-preserved historic architecture, including structures dating back to the 16th century, as well as its stone bridges and waterways. The town's distinctive setting has made it a popular backdrop for theatrical, literary and artistic events.

The festival will open with "The Wild Duck," directed by Thomas Ostermeier of Berlin's Schaubühne. The production, which premiered at the 2025 Avignon Festival, explores intergenerational conflict, deception and moral dilemmas, challenging straightforward notions of good and evil.

The diverse lineup reflects the festival's continuing focus on bringing international theatrical works to Chinese audiences while providing a platform for domestic productions.

Also noteworthy is "Hippolytus" by the National Theatre of Greece. Katerina Evangelatos directs this modern retelling of Euripides' tragedy.

The final performance of the festival will be "Cosmos" by Maëlle Poésy. It explores feminine resilience through digital images and physical theater using "Mercury 13" space program footage.

Chinese director Stan Lai's "Twilight Sky" explores aging and end-of-life care, while Meng Jinghui's "The Playboy of the Western World" is a comic take on Synge's classic about identity and fickleness.

Both Stan Lai and Meng Jinghui founded Wuzhen Theater Festival.

The August Everding Theater Academy in Germany will stage a deconstructed "Hamlet," the Central Academy of Drama will reimagine "Thunderstorm," and the Shanghai Theater Academy will blend Dostoevsky and Akhmatova with Chinese aesthetics with "White Nights."

The Granary Reverie in Wuzhen's North Zone will display 8 emerging artists' works and hold forums and workshops.

Aside from theatrical performances, the festival will feature a variety of events and activities such as "Outdoor Carnival," "Theatre Nite Market," and "Wuzhen Dialogue."

There will be two rounds of ticket sales on August 22 and September 5, respectively, via www.damai.cn.

The ticket price is set at 350 yuan.

Ticket on-sale timing will be released on the Wuzhen Theater Festival official WeChat account.