WTEA 2019 International Theatre Festival Opened in Central Academy of Drama, China
From October 14th to Oct 22nd, 2019, the World Theatre Education Alliance 2019 International Theatre Festival was held in Changping Campus of the Central Academy of Drama, China. About 110 teachers and students from 12 world-famous theatre institutions in 11 countries attended this event.
In the afternoon of Oct 15th, the opening ceremony was held in Theatre Centre of Changping Campus of the Central Academy of Drama
Lin Yongjun, chairman of China Drama Association, Hao Rong, Secretary-General of the World Theatre Education Alliance and President of the Central Academy of Drama and Zaslavsky Grigory, the rector of Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS) attended the opening ceremony and gave the speech. The ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to China, Grigor Porozhanov participated in the opening ceremony with his wife, as well as the foreign delegates and the leaders, teachers and students from the Central Academy of Drama.
2019 World Theatre Education Alliance 2019 International Theatre Festival Opening Ceremony
Lin Yongjun, chairman of China Drama Association, addressed the opening ceremony. He first expressed his congratulations on the successful opening of this event, and a warm welcome to all the guests and friends present. He emphasized that the Festival provides us with the opportunity to approach Shakespeare and the wonderful world of theatrical arts. We are able to see how the creators perceive the classic texts on new stage, and how they communicate with the world and the current trend through Shakespeare, who has ‘lived’ for centuries. In the meantime, through this platform of cultural exchanges for experts and scholars from different countries and regions, mutual respect and understanding among different civilizations will be advanced, and the prosperity and development of the theatre education in the world will be enhanced.
Lin Yongjun, chairman of China Drama Association
Professor Zaslavsky Grigory expressed in his speech that at this regular meeting of the World Theater Education Alliance, they are excited to show their students, their work and what the students have learned from the masters. They are also eager to see what the colleagues from other theater schools will perform. In these student performances are the voices of young people and the experience of our best masters. Thus, the tradition manifests itself. It is especially pleasant for him to talk about this on Chinese land, where they know how to value their traditions- a theater school is impossible without traditions. He also hopes that our current students will be able - in the words of Russian poet and Nobel Prize winner Boris Pasternak – "to hear the call of the Future".
Professor Zaslavsky Grigory, Rector of Russian Institute of Theatre Arts (GITIS)
Professor Hao Rong emphasized in his speech that high-quality works are a mirror of the creativity and aesthetics of a country and a nation. Looking into the past, every historic leap and revolutionary change in civilization was unexceptionally followed by great artistic works. the festival is themed as ‘Shakespeare’s Comedies’. Since the time of Shakespeare, his texts and plays have been a fertile farm land for theatre artists all over the world, and a domain for theatrical dialogue. Today, we once again lay our focus on these classic texts, but interpret and reproduce them from new perspectives based on our own understanding of and reflection on the past and the present. We create new works by deconstructing and localizing the classic. We are here to exchange our thoughts on theatrical styles, contents and schools of study, to further enhance the level of education of all member institutes and the appeal of all cultures, in pursuit of the development of theatre education throughout the world.
Professor Hao Rong, Secretary- General of the World Theatre Education Alliance and President of the Central Academy of Drama, China
After the speech, Professor Hao Rong declared the opening of the Festival.
The WTEA International Theater Festival in 2019 consists of two parts: the performance and the workshop. All participating institutions would perform nine plays based on Shakespeare's famous comedy in Proscenium Stage Theatre, and bring their post-show talk in Black Box Studio 2. The audience could communicate with the director and the actors face to face in the post-show talk. Workshops will be conducted by professors or scholars from the participating institutes, sharing their training method and their theories in theatre.
The group photo of participating professors and students