The second Lao She International Theater Festival will be held from Sep 7th to Oct 27th in Beijing. The festival was launched last year, and it was named after the celebrated Chinese novelist and playwright Lao She. The festival is jointly organized by Beijing Artists Management Corp and Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center.
As one of the most prominent figures of 20th-century Chinese literature, Lao She depicted the lives of people and is best known for his novels "Rickshaw Boy" and "Four Generations under One Roof," and the play "Teahouse."
During the festival, 11 plays from China, France, Russia, and Poland will be brought to the audience. There will have a new adaptation named "Lao She Going to the Fair" which collects six short stories by Lao She and depicts the stories from decades ago with a modern perspective.
Chinese plays, including "Top Restaurant" from Beijing People's Art Theater, "Hu Xueyan, My Dear" from Hong Kong Repertory Theater, and "Ordinary World" by Shaanxi People's Art Theater, will be performed during the festival. Foreign plays, such as "Mo Fei" by Polish director Krystian Lupa and "The State of Siege" by French writer Alber Camus will also be staged. Also, an exhibition focuses on script reading sessions, theater workshops, and forums will be open to the public.