From 20 until 30 September Hangzhou Contemporary Theater Festival, once known as “Hangzhou International Theater Festival”, will be in the city’s spotlight.  Hangzhou contemporary Theater Festival, as it is called now, has for the past five years invited 48 top plays from a number of countries such as France, the Netherlands, Italy, Switzerland and Austria and has performed on stage more than 100 times thus making the festival all the more internationalized and modernized.

Focusing on contemporary arts and exploring the theater culture of the whole world, this year the Hangzhou Contemporary Theater Festival will be showcasing the most typical and most wonderful contemporary plays from the top five most famed international theater festivals.

This year’s invited plays are from the best theater festivals in the world and include the following: Festival d'Avignon (France), Edinburgh Festival Fringe (England), International Drama Festival in Tokyo, Wuzhen Theater Festival and Adelaide Festival of Arts (Australia).

The festival will stage the largest number of plays and for some the Hangzhou Contemporary Theater Festival is their premiere showing in China. Joining in the festival is without doubt the best way in which to see some of the finest plays in the world and being staged at six theaters in and around Hangzhou this means that visitors and locals can now watch an acclaimed play at the drop of a hat.

Two Plays from Festival d'Avignon (France) by Kallo Collective

Kallo Collective brings with them two plays from Festival d’Avignon (France) which, to date, is the most influential theater festival in the world. Every year Festival d’Avignon gathers talented artists from fields such as theater, dance and multi-area. Since its initiation in 1947, the festival has been held for 70 times and is the ideal place for theater people and stage artists. The two plays are Members of Our Limbs and Temptation & Only Bones


Members of Our Limbs
Time: Sept. 24 and Sept. 25
Venue: the small theater in Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center 
Ticket: 200 RMB (Seating is provided on a first come first served basis)
The play is a classic of Kallo Collective’s and has been performed in Festival d’Avignon (France) and the 2010 and 2011 Cirko Festival. 

Temptation & Only Bones
Time: Sept. 24 and Sept. 25
Venue: the small theater in Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Center 
Ticket: 200 RMB (Seating is offered on a first come first served basis)
The play is another classic of Kallo Collective’s and has further been divided into two one-man shows. 

Macbeth: Without Words from Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Time: Sept. 20 and 21
Venue: the adaptable Theater of Hangzhou Grand Theater
Ticket: 200 RMB (Seating is offered on a first come first served basis)
Macbeth: Without Words from Edinburgh Festival Fringe was adapted from Shakespeare’s classic play and also has elements of German Expressionism, Brecht's epic theatre and silent movie. The highlight of the play is that, instead of using words, it performs using all kinds of multi-media technology such as actions, sounds, colors and projections. 

Girl X from International Drama Festival in Tokyo

Time: Sept. 23 and 24
Venue: the adaptable Theater at Hangzhou Grand Theater
Ticket: 200 RMB (Seating is offered on a first come first served basis)
International Drama Festival in Tokyo is the highest-ranking in Japan and produces a large number of outstanding, contemporary plays which includes the much-admired Girl X.

L'orphelin 2.0 from Wuzhen Theater Festival

Time: Sept. 27 and 28
Venue: the adaptable theater at Hangzhou Grand Theater
Ticket: 200 RMB (Seating is offered on a first come first served basis)
In just four years the Wuzhen Theater Festival has developed into the most influential theater festival in Asia. The unique landscape of Wuzhen Ancient Town provides the festival with exceptional space in which to perform, making it the most wanted “theater utopia” for theater artists of the world.

Attack on Dance from Adelaide Festival of Arts (Australia)

Time: Sept. 23 and 24
Venue: Hangzhou Yiyuan Theater
Ticket: 150 RMB (Seating is offered on a first come first served basis)