Wang Chong: Theatre-Making in China in the Age of COVID-19

Is online theatre a short-term substitute for the "real" theatre during a pandemic, or does it have other potentials? Will online theatre eventually replace live performance? Are AI characters or virtual beings better surrogates for actors with flesh and blood? Wang Chong, experimental theatre director based in Beijing, had been working on pushing physical and interdisciplinary boundaries for performers and experimenting with various media and technology before the COVID outbreak. During the pandemic, he took his experimentation to a higher level and produced a number of critically acclaimed Zoom theatre works: his adaptation of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot (during the Wuhan lockdown in April 2020) was live-streamed to a record-breaking audience of 290,000; in 2021, he directed a live online performance of The Plague with artists from six continents. In this talk, Wang will discuss the challenges of online theatre-making and his creative process during the pandemic in China.

Wang Chong is the founder and artistic director of Thé├ótre du R├¬ve Expérimental, an experimental theatre based in Beijing. Renowned internationally for his multimedia and documentary theatre experiments, his works have been performed in 20 countries. Wang's award winning productions include The Warfare of Landmine 2.0 (Festival/Tokyo Award winner, 2013); Lu Xun (Best Performance of the Year, The Beijing News, 2016); and Teahouse 2.0 (One Drama Award winner 2017).

Illuminations: The Chancellor's Arts & Culture Initiative | Website | View More Events

Contact the organizers