A weekend of successful performances

The final few days in Beijing were extremely busy, preparing for the 100 Words showcase at 9 Theatre and then supporting the National Youth Theatre’s performances at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. Friday and Saturday morning were spent faciliciating the plays written by the Beijing Dramatists Association group. These were directed and performed by the workshop participants, with Natasha and Tristan providing guidance and showing how ideas might be extended. One or two plays had been rewritten over the course of the week and we had a good selection to showcase. On Saturday afternoon, they were shown to an invited audience at 9 Theatre. It was a very successful performance and an appropriate end to a highly successful week. We’re looking forward to continuing and extending our collaboration with Yang Qianwu and Beijing Dramatists Association in the future.

On Saturday evening we went to the National Centre for the Performing Arts to watch the premiere of the National Youth Theatre’s production of the Merchant of Venice. It had been a tense couple of days for the company, with very limited technical time, but all had come together in time for an open dress rehearsal on Saturday afternoon and the performance on Saturday evening was excellent. It was completely sold out so we ended up watching the show from the lighting box (it was quite a party up there). A huge amount of work had been put in by so many people to get to this moment and it felt a real achievement to see the young British and Chinese actors on the stage.

A very late night was followed by an early morning visit to Tiananmen Square to see the flag raising ceremony along with thousands of mainly Chinese tourists. Saturday had been a gloriously sunny day and it looked to be going the same way on Sunday. It was extraordinary to see so many people up so early and to share a moment with them. The rest of the day was relaxed and included a lovely conversation over tea with Zhu Changbing, who had looked after the National Youth Theatre company during the week, as well as a couple of hours at Houhai, soaking up the sunshine beside the lake. We then returned to the NCPA in the evening to see the second and final performance of the Merchant of Venice. There was another packed house and the audience really appreciated and understood the play. The company then went out for a Beijing duck dinner, hosted by the China International Youth Arts Festival. Madame Zhai from the Ministry of Culture, who had been assigned to oversee the Festival was extremely enthusiasitc about the performance and invitations have been extended to the National Youth Theatre by both the Ministry and the NCPA to return to China.