Nick Dear Playwright
Nick Dear holds a degree in European Comparative Literature from the University of Essex. As a writer of stage plays, film and TV scripts, radio dramas, etc., he has won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award for his film Persuasion (1995) adapted from Jane Austen’s novel. He has created many works for the National Theatre of Great Britain, Royal Shakespeare Company, Almeida Theatre, Bristol Old Vic Theatre, etc. Agatha Christie’s Poirot, a serial drama created with him as one of the scripts, enjoys high TV ratings in the UK.
Dominic Dromgoole (UK) Director
Dominic Dromgoole is a graduate of the University of Cambridge. He used to work at the Bush Theatre, London, Oxford Stage Theatre, and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and has directed a number of popular Shakespearean works. Especially during his tenure as Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, he directed a series of works, including King Henry V (starring Jamie Parker, a winner of the Tony Award), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (starring Michelle Terry, a winner of the Oliver Award). He built the theatre a touring performance structure that covers the entire UK and has extended worldwide, winning it a very high international reputation. In 2012, he directed the “Globe to Globe” Theatre Festival in the presence of theatre troupes from 37 countries, which gave performances at the Globe Theatre. The Richard III directed by WANG Xiaoying, a director at National Theatre of China, was also staged there then.
Later, Dromgoole cooperated with the famous producer Nica Burns in founding a new-style troupe named “Classic Spring”. From 2017 to 2018, the troupe had a one-year Wilde season in the West End of London and staged six classical works by Wilde.
Dromgoole has published many writings, one of which, WIill and Me: How Shakespeare Took Over My Life, won the First Theatrical Biography Literature Prize—Sheridan Morley Award; the Chinese version of Taking Shakespeare to Every Country in the World has been published by the Commercial Press of China.
LI Ren (China) Director
LI Ren holds a degree in acting and directing from Beijing Film Academy. He is a national first-class actor and director at the National Theatre of China, and a guest director of the Xiantong International Drama Culture (Beijing) Co., Ltd. He is a rising artist excellent in writing, directing and performing contemporary Chinese theatrical works. He has abundant artistic experiences. Many of his performing arts works have won the Wenhua Award, “Five-One” Project Award and other prizes. LI Ren always adheres to the creative spirit of “producing every stage play faithfully”. Being good at drawing drama theatrical nutrients from history and literature, he makes creative use of many different stage effects to create visual spectacles. Director LI Ren’s works boast a strong romantic style and brims with humanistic care, touching the audience in an unforgettable manner. He has served as a creative team member and leading performer in many classical plays produced by National Theatre of China, including Turmoil, The Field of Life and Death, The Chinese Orphan, The Snowstorm, Prince of Lanling, etc. He is the revival director of many classical dramas including National Theatre of China Big Family, and the Xiantong International Drama Culture Deling and Cixi.
As a director, his representative works include Battle on Shangganling Mountain, Call 4921, etc. Many of his works have been awarded honours and prizes, including one rated as a Key Drama for Beijing Fine Cultural Project in 2021, one presented with an award at the 4th Chinese Theatre Awards, and one presented with an award at the “One Drama Awards” in the Shanghai Jing’an Drama Valley.
WANG Yabin Choreographer & Movement Director
WANG Yabin is a national first-class actress, a leading member of the Youth Dance Troupe of Beijing Dance Academy, Artistic Director of Yabin Studio, and a director of the China Dancers Association. She has won gold awards in all major dance competitions held in China, and created an art brand series titled “Yabin and Her Friends”. As a representative young Chinese artist who has attracted much attention from the international dance scene, she is honoured as “one of the most important Asian artists” by Knack Focus. In 2017, the English National Ballet won the Oliver Award for “Most Outstanding Achievement in Dance” for the new version of Giselle and She Says. As the first Chinese choreographer to be invited for commissioned creation by the English National Ballet, WANG participated in the choreography of She Says, and thus became the only Chinese choreographer to gain this honour. She stands devoted to deep collaboration in creations for international dance projects. She was invited for commissioned creation to mark the 85th anniversary of the American Dance Festival, and cooperated with the Hilton Theatre, Norway. She worked with the famous British director Tim Supple and NCPA in producing Shakespearean drama The Tempest; she acted in the dance drama The Moon Opera in the USA at the invitation of the Pittsburgh Premiere Festival, with the work awarded the title of “Best Dance of 2018”. Her representative dance dramas include Growth, The Moon Opera, Three Dramas, She Says: M-Dao, Dream So, The Lady from the Sea, My Name is DING Xiang, etc.
WEI Meng Composer
WEI Meng is a young composer, experimental electronic musician and singer. He used to study at the Composition Department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Composition Department of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and the IRCAM Electronic Music Centre of Centre national d’art et de culture Georges-Pompidou. He was the first Asian person to win the Spanish Frederic Mompou Award for Music Composition, and received recognition from several international art awards during his studies. With both classical music and academic foundations, he is capable of composing multi-style electronic music. In recent years, he has stayed devoted to combining traditional Chinese music with modern electronic music in his creations.
SHEN Li Set Designer
SHEN Li is a set designer and teacher of set design at the Stage Design Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy. In 2000, he graduated from the Stage Design Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy with a degree in stage design. For more than 20 years, he has been dedicated to creating stage space for stage plays. He has cooperated with many well-known Chinese and foreign stage directors including TIAN Qinxin in drama Turmoil, GUO Shixin in drama Scenes from a Marriage, ZHANG Zhongnian in dramas Sacrifice and The Newly-wedded Couple, Moira Finucane in drama The Flood, Elisa Perrig in drama Breath, and Walter Asmus in End Game. He has developed a distinctive personal style during cooperation in continuous creations with directors ZHOU Ke, LI Bonan and HE Nian, as well as the Inside-Out Theatre and Drum Tower West Theatre.
TAN Hua Lighting Designer
TAN Hua holds a master’s degree in stage lighting design from the Central Academy of Drama and a master’s degree in fine arts from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. Her representative lighting design works include Turmoil, Flowers, The Dream of Red Mansions, etc. She has won many domestic lighting design awards. Her representative stage design works include Kunqu Opera Sishengyuan: Emerald Dream (China Kunqu Opera Festival), and Peking & Kunqu operas Chunshuidu (Hong Kong Theatre Libre Festival), Pianxiang, The Sinner, etc.
LI Xiang Audio & Sound Effects Designer
LI Xiang is an audio designer for stage plays with an academic degree from the Music College of Capital Normal University. He has cooperated with well-known directors, composers and musicians from home and abroad, and has cooperated with famous foreign musical production teams. His representative works include a Chinese version of The Battle-Horses, a Chinese version of Broadway musical Cats, Rimas version of Faust, the Wenhua Award-winning dance drama The Railway to Tibet, the dance drama commission Five Stars Out of the East, Jay Chou’s musical Secret, Jonathan Lee’s musical Bygone Love, a Chinese version of a Chinese version of Off-Broadway musical The Last Five Years, a Chinese version of Shiki Theatre Company The Cat Who Wished to Be a Man, Jerry Huang’s musical In the Mood for Sorrow, etc.
GUAN Feng Costume & Hair Style Designer
GUAN Feng is a member of China Institute of Stage Design. He is a graduate of the Stage Design Department of Shanghai Theatre Academy and works at the Performing Arts Centre of Shanghai Theatre Academy. He is the hair style designer of ZHANG Yimou’s opera Turandot, and a make-up artist in Taiwan Godot Theater drama Mitch Albom’s TUESDAYS with MORRIE. As a costume designer and make-up artist, his representative works include 4.48, RUAN Lingyu, Turmoil, The Eternal Flame of Van Gogh, The Red and the White Rose, etc.; song and dance dramas Vast Sea and Saltern, Legend of Amannishahan, etc. He served as a hair style designer at the opening ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the 2010 Shanghai World Expo and other large-scale international events, and has won the Academy Award for costume design many times.
Helen Casey Special Effects Make-up Artist
Helen Casey, a graduate of the London College of Fashion, is a creative artist and art manager. She has worked in the performing arts industry for more than 20 years and has got involved in projects in many fields including fashion, education, theatre, film and TV. During her ten years of working at the National Theatre of Great Britain, she participated in the production of many theatrical works, the most famous of which is Frankenstein, a dance drama directed by Danny Boyle. She served as a special effects make-up artist for the humanoid in this drama. In addition to serving as a make-up artist for dramas, she is often involved in teaching activities organised by the Education Department of the National Theatre of Great Britain and devoted to working for the apprenticeship programme. During her tenure at the National Theatre of Great Britain, she wrote several books, including Charming Look, and Wig, Hair and Make-up: A Backstage Guide, which will be published soon.
YU Lei Props Designer
YU Lei holds a degree in stage design from Shanghai Theatre Academy and has a studio named “Waste Institute”. His representative stage works include installation puppet play The Incredible 18-Faced Knight, dark Gothic installation puppet play The End of My Room, Shanghai Jing’an Drama Valley commission Knight Kuafu, Steam Punk Puppet and Shadow Theatre Bosa and Uwe, experimental drama Nonsense Studio, a work created for Youth Ideas Week, and stage installation art Nomad City Project. He has attended exhibitions including the Unconventional Avant-garde Theatre Design Exhibition at the 28th Cairo International Experimental Theatre Festival, Blackstone Apartments Exhibition - Blackstone Forest, performance art - Performing Show, Drunken Boy, held by Waste Institute in cooperation with All Club and On the Road Store, and Trash Lab: a Theme Park of Waste at Urban Nature Festival.
SHANG Xiaolei Script Translator
SHANG Xiaolei is a graduate of the UNSW Business School. She once translated War Horse for the National Theatre of China and other scripts for the “Capital Theatre Invitational Exhibition of Excellent Theatrical Works” and “NewLive”. Other scripts translated into Chinese by her include Ghetto, Love and the City, Betrayal, and An Inspector Calls. She has translated and published books including Dead Men Do Tell Tales, The Last Days of Night, Saudi Company, Botanical Shakespeare, etc.