Natasha and Oliver are off to Beijing later today. They’re going to be supporting the Beijing end of East to East on Wednesday evening in the Courtyard at the Central Academy of Drama and see the premiere of the two winning plays from the recent online competition, both of which have now been turned into short films. We’ve seen rough cuts of Asif Kapadia’s version of Xing Ding’s My World, which is stunning, but have yet to see what 223 (a Beijing film director) has made of Ding Tian’s Goodbye Heaven. As well as their involvement in East to East, they’re going to busy meeting people to discuss plans for the summer, when the National Youth Theatre and 100 Words will be returning to Beijing.

Last Thursday, we went to Caister-on-Sea (in Norfolk) for the evening to see a performance by pupils from Caister First, Middle and High Schools of work inspired by 100 Words. Earlier in the year, we had run a six week programme of workshops in the First and High Schools, while other teachers had taken the ideas behind 100 Words and applied them in different ways. It was exciting to see the results. Short films of the First School pupils showed them learning Mandarin words for numbers and colours, and renacting the Chinese folk tale, The Ten Suns (in 100 words). Middle and High School students performed 50 and 100 word plays in Mandarin. Year 7 and Year 8 showcased a stunning dance piece based on interpretations of the characters for 1 to 7. Films of the High School students 10 word plays were also shown. The performances were extremely focused and the hall was packed with families and friends. None of the Caister schools teach Mandarin but they have thriving links with Dong Er Primary School and Middle School No 3 in Xuhui District, Shanghai. In a few weeks time, a group of 14 teachers and students will be visiting the Shanghai schools to share 100 Words material, while later in the summer term teachers from Shanghai schools will be coming to Caister. We’ll be meeting up with them all to hear how the project’s going and to plan the next phase. Thanks to Creative Partnerships Norfolk and the British Council World Links programme for all their support to-date.

Earlier in the week the Chinese judging panel announced the four finalists and the winner of the online competition run in partnership with British Council China and SOHU.com. The finalists are Fei Xiafeng with Another Day, Song Yidan with My World, Xie Yi with Cake World (shown during the BBC Blast/National Youth Theatre performance on 30 March) and Zhao Xi with Another Place. The winning script, submitted by Ding Tian from Shanghai Jiaotong University is Goodbye Heaven. Our thanks to the judging panel for their time and contribution.

A short film of Goodbye Heaven will be made in the next couple of weeks by the Chinese film director and photographer, 223. Meanwhile, award winning film director Asif Kapadia completed his shoot of Xing Ding’s script My World on Friday. Both films will be shown as part of East to East at Canary Wharf in London (at 13.00) and in the courtyard of the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing (at 20.00) on 30 April. 100 Words will be represented at both ends, with Natasha and Oliver Williams, an associate of the project, setting off for Beijing in a couple of weeks time.