On to Beijing

Another trip to Beijing, this time with Paul Roseby, Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre.  We’ve developed a close partnership with the National Youth Theatre since running a week of 100 Words workshops and performances as part of its 50th anniversary season last August.  We’re planning to do a similar thing this summer but with an added Chinese dimension including performances of 100 word plays written in Mandarin and live links to China. Identifying writers and bloggers who might want to be part of this is just one of the objectives of our forthcoming trip to Beijing. We also want to meet potential partners for an innovative programme of events designed to mark and celebrate Beijing’s hosting of the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the start of London 2012’s Cultural Olympiad. Taking place in London, Beijing and online, the programme will bring together British and Chinese young people.

More generally, this visit will provide an opportunity to introduce the work of the National Youth Theatre to Beijing-based theatre organisations.  As the first company of its kind anywhere in the world, the National Youth Theatre has simulated the creation of many youth theatre companies across the UK and beyond.  Its way of working - using theatre to provide young people aged 13 to 21 from any background with opportunities to develop their creative and social skills – produces innovative models that may be of great interest to Chinese theatre practitioners.

It’s Paul’s first visit to China so I’ve sent him a reading list as long as your arm.  We’ve got a bulging agenda, with most meetings confirmed (unheard of!) thanks to the help of staff at British Council Beijing. We’ll hardly draw breath but I hope they’ll be a chance to show Paul the many different sides of Beijing and that he has the best possible introduction to this complex and fascinating city.

Rachel