Behind the Red Curtain --The Future of Shanghai's Theater Scene November 6, 2007

The Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club presents

Behind the Red Curtain

The Future of Shanghai’s Theater Scene

with William Sun, Nick Yu and Zhang Xian

Tuesday, November 6, (doors open 7pm, discussion starts 7:30)

at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 288 Anfu Lu

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About the Event:

In the run-up to November's Asian Contemporary Theater Festival (ACT), three of the most dynamic participants in the local drama scene will debate the trends and issues facing Shanghai theater today.

ACT director and director of programming at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center Nick Yu, vice president of the Shanghai Theater Academy William Sun, and director of the Downstream Garage experimental performance space Zhang Xian will discuss issues such as the contemporary theater market and funding; the differences between theater in Beijing and Shanghai; the state of playwriting; good and bad adaptations of western works, and new trends including physical theater, multimedia theater and 'white collar' theater.

7pm, Tuesday November 6th at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 288 Anfu Lu, by Wulumuqi Lu, 18F Meeting Room,

Tel: 6327 1282

Price: 50 RMB for non-members. Members: Free.

The venue only holds 50 people - so please book early.

RSVP: [email protected]

For more information contact SFCC Media Representative Rebecca Catching: [email protected]

About the speakers:

William Sun Huizhu

William Sun is the Vice President of the Shanghai Theater Academy. He has a PHD in performance studies from New York University, has taught at Tufts University, California State University, Northridge and York University and is a contributing editor to NYU’s The Drama Review. His research interests include social performance studies, intercultural theater and theater narratology. Publications include, The Fourth Wall: Theater in Construction and Whose Madam Butterfly? Conflicts on Stage and Clash of Civilizations. In addition to academic writing, Sun is a noted playwright - his works include The Old B Hanging on the Wall, China Dream, Gods and the Good Woman and Hedda Gabler.

Nick Yu Rongjun

As a playwright, producer, director of programming and festivals Nick Yu is involved in many aspects of Shanghai's theater community. He has authored more then twenty works for stage and screen, notably an adaptation of The Vagina Monologues, WWW.COM, The Taste of Cappuccino, Dog’s Face, and Drift, which will be staged at this year's ACT in November. As chief director of the festival and the Shanghai University Theater Festival, Yu has helped to foster young talent and expand Shanghai’s theater horizons.

Zhang Xian

As the director of the Downstream Garage (Xiahe Micang), which hosts the annual Ideas Festival and the Downstream Garage Fringe Festival, Zhang Xian is a key actor in the development of Shanghai’s independent theater scene. Zhang has received several fellowships abroad and has sat on the judge’s panel of the Zurich Festival and Cairo International Experimental Arts Festival. He’s worked as a director and a playwright in the fields of dance, drama and film and has written and directed 19 works which have been shown in Shanghai, Beijing and abroad. His physical theater work, Tongue’s Memory of Home, won the grand prize at the Zurich Festival.

Official Website: http://www.fccsh.org/