It’s the early hours in the UK and the rush hour in China, an appropriate time to write a last blog before checking out for a while. Looking back at 2007, it’s been quite a year. We’ve worked in Beijing, Birmingham, Caister, Guangzhou, London and Shanghai, forging ahead with both the artist development and creative language learning strands of 100 Words. In total, over 1,000 people have been involved either as participants or as audience members. We’ve generated over 130 plays by British and Chinese writers and made over 25 short films. There have been lots of highlights - discovering the power of 100 word plays performed first in Mandarin and then in English; witnessing the interest of the local Chinese community in Birmingham in 100 Words; introducing Paul Roseby from the National Youth Theatre to Beijing for the first time with a whirlwind of 17 meetings over three days; seeing members of the National Youth Theatre perform plays in Mandarin having learnt the language over just a few days; experiencing the enthusiasm of teachers and British Council staff in Guangzhou, where the creative language learning strand of 100 Words was launched in September; discovering that a dynamic cluster of schools in Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk have active links with the futuristic city of Shanghai; and giving young Chinese artists the opportunity to express their creativity in new ways.

Looking forward, 2008 is a significant year – one which sees Beijing host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and an unprecedented number of Chinese-themed programmes and events in the UK.  We’re looking forward to being part of CHINA NOW’s education programme and to continuing our work with Caister and Shanghai schools. We’ll also be focusing on the special relationship between Beijing and London – two Olympic cities which will be linked in a live event scheduled on 30 April, just 100 days before the start of the Beijing Olympics. This is part of a larger programme of work that we’ll be delivering in partnership with the National Youth Theatre, BBC Blast, Beijing Dramatists Association and the Central Academy of Fine Arts amongst others. In order to firm up the planning for this, we’ll be going to Beijing in early January with National Youth Theatre staff members and volunteers – a great way to kick off the new year.

We finished off our week with two workshops at Shanghai World Foreign Language Middle School in Xuhui District. One workshop involved 12 teachers, the other involved 18 students and was a much shorter introduction to 100 Words. Teachers again provided thoughtful feedback regarding how they might implement 100 Words in the classroom, and we were again struck by the excellence of the students’ English. We’re looking forward to continuing our work in Shanghai schools.

An English lesson in progress at the WFL Middle School

Shanghai Theatre Academy’s new theatre spaces

The workshop in progress

Shanghai Theatre Academy is one of the two ‘national status’ drama training institutions in China. Surrounded by high rise buildings, the campus is well equipped with two stunning new theatre spaces and good sized rooms in the teaching block, which we used for the workshop. Over two days, we worked with 17 undergraduate and postgraduate writers and 15 ‘actors’ who actually had very little acting experience as they were from the Department of Dramatic Literature.  In the informal performance, we showcased 14 plays written on the theme of ‘everyday life in China’, either as fully rehearsed pieces or as rehearsed readings. Relationships underpinned many of the plays – between a girl trying to secure a residence permit and an official; between a husband in prison and his ill wife; between a mother and her daughter; between a man, his ex-wife (now a successful entrepreneur) and his current wife. Some of the plays dealt with difficult subjects – a man had to choose between saving the life of his wife or son, who were both in the operating theatre, and ended up losing both. Working with students with little acting knowledge threw up a few challenges, especially given the tight rehearsal schedule, but proved to be a rich and rewarding experience for all.