16th Shanghai Theater Festival opens with Old Stock premiere

The 16th Shanghai Contemporary Theater festival kicked off on Aug 30 with the premiere of Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story at the Jasmine Theatre.

Founded in 2005 by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, the festival introduces pioneering and experimental theater productions from all over the world.

This year, the festival will take place from Aug 30 to Oct 9, featuring eight productions from China, Canada, Italy, France, Germany, Britain and Indonesia. Two of these productions will make their Chinese mainland debut, while four will make their Asian premiere.

Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, which had its Asian premiere on Saturday, will have three shows in Shanghai. A humorously dark folktale interwoven with a high-energy concert, the lead actor and song writer Ben Caplan was inspired by the true stories of two Jewish Romanian refugees who traveled to Canada in 1908. Jointly produced by Caplan and 2B Theatre Company, the production has toured 37 cities worldwide, winning critical acclaim and numerous awards.

Also presented at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre's D6 Space on Aug 30-31, Tiny, Fluffy, Sweet, jointly created by Chinese artist Chen Ran and the theater group StageNoMore, follows the cultural evolution of the panda image and the deep attraction people feel for certain animals.

The festival will feature a series of outstanding dance theater productions, such as That's All Folks by Italy's Fritz Company, Jorome Bel, starring Chinese artist Xiao Ke, Ocean Cage, jointly created by Siko Setyanto from Indonesia and Chinese artist Chen Tianzhuo, and The Foe of an Arrow Wound, jointly created by Paper Tiger Theater Studio and the Humboldt Forum.

Another highlight of the ACT festival this year is L'addition, directed by Tim Etchells and starring the renowned performance duo Bert & Nasi. Set in the simple situation of a customer ordering a drink from a waiter, the original French version was commissioned by the Festival d'Avignon in 2023, while the English version won recognition at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.