The Seventh Day at the Avignon Festival

Yang Fei has just died and reaches the other shore. The innovative Chinese director Meng Jinghui adapts Yu Hua’s novel to create a world peopled with wanderings and news-in-brief stories. © Christophe Raynaud de Lage OVERVIEW Yang Fei has just died in an explosion. For this man of modest means, reaching the other shore is a reminder of his existence. How can he aspire to a burial when he cannot afford one? Yang Fei encounters other dead souls living on borrowed time, who wander in this other world: his ex-wife, the rat-girl and her companion, as well as many chess players. Yet his wanderings unfold with serenity, driven by the desire to find a father who has mysteriously disappeared. Adapted from a Yu Hua novel woven through with authentic news-in-brief stories, The Seventh Day, published in 2013, is inspired by the biblical myth of creation and the hope of finding answers to personal questions. After The Teahouse, presented at the Avignon Festival in 2019, Chinese director Meng Jinghui continues his innovative exploration of Chinese society. A theater of powerful formal beauty, among unsettling dark spheres ready to move with the wind, and a strange grinder that one dreads might start up. Published in 2013, The Seventh Day brought international recognition to Yu Hua, a novelist born in 1960. He has published several novels, including To Live (1993), adapted for film by Zhang Yimou, Chronicle of a Blood Merchant (1995), Brothers (2005), winner of the Courrier international prize for best foreign book, and China in Ten Words (2010). Running time: 2h10 July 18, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 2022 Cloître des Carmes, Avignon © Christophe Raynaud de Lage © Christophe Raynaud de Lage © Christophe Raynaud de Lage Cast With Chen Minghao, Han Shuo, Huang Xiangli, Mei Ting, Sun Yucheng, Wang Zihang, Xiao Dingchen Text Yu Hua Translation from Chinese Pascale Wei Guinot Adaptation and direction Meng Jinghui Music Hua Shan, Wang Chuang Set design Zhang Wu Lighting Wang Qi Sound Zhang Xinnan Costumes Yu Lei Assistant director Li Huayi Production Wang Jing Production Meng Theatre Studio Co-production Hybridités France-Chine In partnership with France Médias Monde Workshop of Thought THE CHINA WE DO NOT KNOW: THE DRAMATURGY OF CONTEMPORARY CHINESE THEATER What is the dramaturgy of contemporary Chinese theater? It is a question that goes unanswered in Europe. To address it, one must try to understand the context in which today’s Chinese theater is situated and the environment in which playwrights work. What are the forms of dramaturgy, and how do these different forms behave on stage? This workshop of thought offers another perspective on China through theater. July 21, 2022 Cloître Saint-Louis, Avignon With Meng Jinghui, director; Wang Jing, director of Hybridités France-Chine; Pascale Wei-Guinot, Chinese translator specializing in theater Moderated by Christophe Triau, professor at the University of Paris-Nanterre Watch the full discussion at the following link: https://festival-avignon.com/fr/audiovisuel/la-chine-que-nous-ne-connaissons-pas-la-dramaturgie-du-theatre-contemporain-chinois-227554 2022–2023 Season China Tour November 25–27, 2022 Wuzhen Theatre Festival, Wuzhen Theatre, Jiaxing December 29–31, 2022 Suzhou Bay Grand Theatre, Suzhou January 6–8, 2023 Wuxi Grand Theatre, Wuxi January 10–11, 2023 Ningbo Cultural Poly Grand Theatre, Ningbo January 13–14, 2023 Hangzhou Grand Theatre, Hangzhou March 15–19, 2023 Poly Theatre, Beijing