Photo of Macbeth with Butcher’s Knife by Korean Magic Cube Theatre Studio

A Mid-summer Night’s Dream by KoreanTravelers Theatre Company

Impressions of the 18th BESETO theatre festival by correspondent Wang Xinrong

18 years ago, the older generation of theatre artists from China, Korea and Japan came together for the dream of theatre art and jointly founded the BESETO Theatre Festival. 18 years have elapsed since then, the torch of BESETO Theatre Festival has been passed on among the three countries for generations. Now with great joy, we greet the 18th birthday of the BESETO Theatre Festival. From September 9 to 17, the 18th BESETO Theatre Festival was held in Jinan, colleagues from Chinese, Korean and Japanese theatre circles brought with them 8 plays including: “Rhapsody of the Talent’s Love”.”, “Notes in Tokyo”, “Mid-Summer Night’s Dream” and “Attending Class”. The exquisite performances of the plays triggered off intense confrontation of ideas and sympathetic response. The performances made people feel in a deeper way the wisdom, farsightedness and courage displayed by grown-up BESETO.   

Taking a sweeping view of the performances, most plays are small theater drama, which means the stage is small, seats are limited, and a closer and subtle relation between stage, players and audience were formed. In addition, small theatre drama is always characterized by its avant-garde and experimental style. We can’t help asking that where does its avant-garde style come from? How does it blaze a trail? What is the most moving factor? I watched several dramas, whether traditional or modern, familiar or unfamiliar, cannot help laughing or brain-racking, a variety of presentations or different impressions, all these well satisfied my strong interest of theatre art. Among which the most gratifying thing is the surging originality and creativeness on the small stage. Due to the powerful and unconstrained imagination and rich creativeness, small theatre drama sent forth fascinating artistic charm.