On Thursday evening we brought together the National Youth Theatre actors and the Beijing Dramatists Association workshop participants in an informal performance at 9 Theatre. The Chinese participants showed four 100 word plays that had been written earlier in the week; the British actors then performed several 100 word plays that had been rehearsed with Natasha previously. Both groups performed versions of ‘Chorus Line’, written by Aled Roberts in the National Youth Theatre/Soho Theatre week in 2006. It’s a fantastic play. In the English version, extracts from well known Hollywood and West End musicals are sung by an over enthusatic chorus line, hired by parents of a teenage boy, James, to ‘bring him out of himself’. The Chinese performaers did their own version, using well known Chinese songs and army tunes. Both performances were excellent. The evening was also used to showcase two Chinese plays from the online creative writing competition – ‘My World’ and ‘Struggle’. ‘My World’ was performed first by the National Youth Theatre and then reinterpreted with Chinese actors playing the two leads. ‘Struggle’ combined both casts, with an underscore developed earlier in the day with the BDA workshop participants added to the piece. It was a very special moment seeing the British and Chinese casts come together, watched by the Chinese actors who are involved in the Merchant of Venice.

On Wednesday evening, British Council Beijing kindly hosted a reception for 100 Words and the National Youth Theatre. It took place at Neverland Coffee Bar, a very chic and relaxed venue with a screen installation by artist Shu-Min Lin. We brought all the Beijing Dramatists Association participants along while the National Youth Theatre brought the 10 Chinese artists they have been working with. As well as speeches, there was an interactive moment when we all sent texts of a word or words close to our heart to a Chinese mobile number – moments later, the words snaked down the screen (mine included creativity, imagination, adventure, passion and baizi). The winning films from the two online competitions run in China and the UK in partnership with the National Youth Theatre, BBC Blast, SOHU.com and the British Council were also screened along with some showreels of the National Youth Theatre’s work. It was a great chance for the National Youth Theatre members to see another side of Beijing and to connect with others involved in the contemporary arts scenes in China, as well as marking an exciting week of exchange and creativity for both organisations.

It’s day two of the 100 Words workshop at 9 Theatre. We’ve got a great bunch of young writers/actors/directors – committed, focused, inventive and giving. Yesterday we started off in a mini-opera theatre – a stunning red room complete with a tiny stage and balconies. Tristan Parkes, who has a background in music as well as teaching performing arts and creative writing, has joined us for the week and is introducing some different elements into the workshop. Today we’ve been in the SARS studio space focusing on writing and language. By the end of the day we had nine 100 word plays. In the evening, Natasha worked with the National Youth Theatre actors, who’ve been spending the week at the China Coal Performing Arts Centre rehearsing the Merchant of Venice. On Thursday we’re bringing everyone together for a celebration of 100 Words. We rounded off the night with a late night dash to Song Bar on the other side of town.

It’s a gloriously sunny Sunday morning and the National Youth Theatre company have just landed in Beijing. Tom has gone to meet them in the company bus and I’m just about to meet Yang Qianwu to go over arrangements for our workshop this week. We’ve had a productive couple of days preparing for the forthcoming week. Paul’s rehearsals with the Chinese actors have gone extremely well – they’re a very talented bunch with a completely different physicality to British actors. Wang Zhan, an MA student at the Central Academy of Drama who has helped to source the actors, has been working alongside the group and is a real find. He will be operating the surtitles for the Merchant of Venice so is an essential part of the team. On Friday night, Zhan came with us to the National Centre for the Performing Arts to see a concert (conducted by Cai Jindong, Artistic Director of the China Internatinal Youth Arts Festival) and dance performance. The building looks amazing at night. After the performance we battled torrential rain to cross town for a delicious Taiwanese dinner at Bellagio’s. Yesterday we all went our different ways – Paul ended up deep in the countryside looking at the Merchant of Venice set, Tom was out trying to buy props including a Beijing bicycle and a coffin (impossible to get in Beijing) while I stayed local and after working for much of the day, met a friend and walked around the local area. It’s a very old and fascinating neighbourhood. After catching up and comparing notes, we ended the day with dinner at a Korean barbecue restaurant – we weren’t quite brave enough to try Ox’s brain or dog. Perhaps next time.

It’s another humid and steamy morning in Beijing and I’ve just been out for a 6am jog. The streets surrounding the hotel near Tiantan Park are busy with people cooking breakfast and buying fresh vegetables. It’s going to be another hot day. I arrived yesterday to temperatures of over 30 degrees – a real contrast to my last visit to Beijing in January. I went straight to the rehearsal room where Paul Roseby, Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre, was working with 10 young Chinese actors. They will form part of the ensemble for the Merchant of Venice. It was then off to the designer to finalise the programme – this took most of the afternoon, not least due to the designer’s office being in the far south west of the city. Lunch was a Chinese KFC eaten in the car. We stayed local last night – there are just three of us here at the moment including Tom, the Assistant Stage Manager and National Youth Theatre member. The rest of the company arrive on Sunday. Today will be spent visiting the British Council and spending some time in rehearsals. I’m also hoping to speak to Yang Qianwu from Beijing Dramatists Association to finalise arrangements for next week’s workshop.

We return to Beijing in a few days for our first workshop with Beijing Dramatists Assocation. We’ll be working with 14 young Chinese writers and actors over the course of a week, giving an insight into different techniques using the 100 Words model. The workshop will take place at Jiuge (9) Theatre in Chaoyang District and will culminate in an informal showcase on Saturday 12 July. At the same time, the National Youth Theatre will be making its first visit to China to present an abridged version of the Merchant of Venice at the China International Youth Arts Festival. This is a direct result of Artistic Director Paul Roseby’s visit to Beijing last June, which was faciliated by 100 Words. The links between the two organisations have continued, and an evening has been scheduled during the week when the young British and Chinese artists will be brought together to present work to each other and share practice. We’re looking forward to seeing Beijing again in the run up to the Olympics. With the opening of the Games a little over a month away, it will be fascinating to see the city making its final preparations.

We’ve spent an enjoyable time over the past week looking at the CHINA NOW 100 Words Schools Competition entries. These have been posted on a secure website as 100 word films which have been written by students in British schools learning Mandarin, and students in their partner school in China learning English. Schools were encouraged to comment on each other’s work and develop their ideas collaboratively. A general theme of ‘similarity and difference’ was set, and it was fascinating to see how this was interepreted by the schools. There were some very original ideas, and a great deal of effort had obviously gone into thinking about how to stage and film their plays. Two pairs of schools will be selected as the winners, with an announcement due very soon. The CHINA NOW 100 Words Schools Competition has been supported by HSBC and is being delivered in partnership with the British Council.

He Ju and Liu Lei left London yesterday to return to Shanghai. We’ve had a fantastic week with them. Monday’s meetings were followed by a writers’ workshop with Chinese, British Chinese and other British writers on Tuesday. It was good to have such a mix of voices and some wonderful 10, 50 and 100 word plays were written by Ben Ellis, Liu Lei, Tom Morton-Smith, Phil Porter, Amy Rosenthal, Jeremy Tiang, Rosaline Ting and Simon Wu. The following day, Theatre503 actors joined and with the directing team of Natasha Betteridge, Anthony Biggs, Antonio Ferrara, He Ju, Gene David Kirk and Paul Robinson, set to work. The weather was glorious and maximum use was made of The Latchmere garden as a rehearsal space. Towards the end of the day, we took He Ju and Liu Lei to the Lyric Hammersmith where they caught the last half of a discussion about Harold Pinter and The Birthday Play before seeing the 50th anniversary production in the evening.

Following a technical rehearsal on Thursday morning, everyone prepared for the afternoon’s performance. The quality of the writing, acting and direction was extremely high, with plays performed in English, Mandarin and Cantonese. 100 Words Associate Artists Jennifer Lim and Oliver Williams appeared in several plays as well as giving short ‘cultural snapshots’ between pieces of thoughts that had arisen over the three days. Our thanks to the other actors – Vicki Boreham, Fiona Button, Alan Cox, Lisa Diveney, Ellis Kerkhoven, He Ju, Liu Lei (who gave a memorial impersonation of an elevator), Wendy Nottingham, Jeremy Tiang, Jonathan Warde and Sargon Yelda.

The performance was followed by an informal, high quality and thoughtful discussion. Liu Lei and He Ju talked about their theatre, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, and answered questions about programme development, new writing, censorship, international collaboration, diversity and China’s ability to embrace creativity, placing the latter in the wider context of social and economic development of the last 30 years.

The last day was spent introducing He Ju and Liu Lei to more theatre organisations including ATC, Soho Theatre and Paines Plough. We all got together for a final dinner in Covent Garden – not before He Ju had found himself taking part in a piece of street theatre. Our thoughts are now turning to how we might develop this three way partnership and take creative collaboration between 100 Words, Theatre503 and Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre onto the next stage.

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Liu Lei (Ray) and He Ju have now arrived. We met them at Heathrow on Saturday and left them to explore Bayswater and Notting Hill, where they’re staying, on Sunday. Yesterday was spent in a whirlwind of meetings including Birmingham Rep, Yellow Earth Theatre and a freelance education practitioner who has worked extensively with major organisations such as the Barbican and English National Opera. We criss-crossed London, showing them the vibrancy of Soho and the South Bank, and the rich diversity of Bethnal Green. It was interesting to learn more about the new writing process in China and to compare notes. Whereas it can take one to two years to develop a new play in the UK, with the writer supported by a dramaturg or director, in China the process is much shorter and once a writer delivers their script, the commissioning theatre might decide to hire another writer to revise it. Today, both Ray and He Ju will be involved in a writers’ workshop at Theatre503 led by Natasha and Paul Robinson, joint Artistic Director of 503 with support from Gene David Kirk. There’s a good mix of writers coming and the plays generated through the workshop will be rehearsed and performed over the next two days.

Meanwhile, our thoughts were very much with the Chinese people when we heard about the massive earthquake in Sichuan Province. We’ve been to Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, many times and wanted to check that our friends at the Sichuan People’s Art Theatre were safe. We also were in touch with Neocha, the design company based in Shanghai, who told of tall buildings swaying and being evacuated – almost 1,000 miles from the epicentre.