Nick Rongjun YU: Chief Director of ACT Shanghai International Theatre Festival

Nick Rongjun YU: Chief Director of ACT Shanghai International Theatre Festival

Around 40 young festival directors from all over the world are about to take part in the Atelier for Young Festival and Cultural Managers in Shanghai. For them, it is the opportunity to exchange with experienced presenters. One of them is Nick Rongjun YU, chief director of ACT Shanghai International Theatre Festival, the director of Shanghai International Comedy Festival and the Vice President of Shanghai Performing Arts Group.

YU Rongjun, also known as Nick, is an award-winning playwright, as well as the chief director of ACT Shanghai International Theatre Festival, the director of Shanghai International Comedy Festival and the Vice President of Shanghai Performing Arts Group.

He is involved with many aspects of the theatrical community. Since 2000, he has authored more than 56 works for stage and screen.  His numerous stage plays – including Last Winter, WWW.COM, The Insane Asylum Next to Heaven, Behind the Lie, Perfume, 1977, Das Kapital, Captain, The Crowd – have been performed not only by SDAC and other theatre companies in China, but by foreign companies as well, with productions in Chinese, English, Japanese, Turkish, Spanish, Italian, Hebrew and other languages and dialects. In addition, his playscript collections have been published in Chinese, Japanese, English, Spanish, German, Italian, Spanish and Turkish. Nick has also translated and/or adapted foreign-language works into Chinese that have been performed in China and abroad. He has written dance theatre, physical theatre, and screenplays for film and television as well.

As the manager of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, he hosted more than 400 projects for three stages in Shanghai. Such projects included productions from all of China’s major theatre companies as well as more than 200 productions from abroad. He has also facilitated the world tours of more than 20 SDAC plays. From 2005 until the present time, he has been the chief director of ACT Shanghai International Theatre Festival, which is an annual festival for theatre companies from all over world.

Renowned mentors from all over the world will guide the participants throughout the seven days of the Atelier Shanghai 2017 under the coordination of Hugo de Greef (Atelier Coordinator, former EFA Secretary General, Director European Capital of Culture Bruges 2002m Co-Founder Kaaitheater Brussels – Belgium): Robin Archer, (Artistic Director The Light in Winter Melbourne – Australia), Mark Ball, (Associate Artistic Director of Manchester International Festival, UK), Bernard Faivre d’Arcier, (President Lyon Biennal -  France), Nele Hertling, (Member Strategy Group “A Soul for Europe”, Former Vice-President of the Academy of Arts Berlin, Former Director Hebbel-Theater Berlin – Germany), Nick Rongjun YU (chief director of ACT Shanghai International Theatre Festival, the director of Shanghai International Comedy Festival - China), Ismail Mahomed (Chief Executive Officer of the Market Theatre Foundation – South Africa), Catherine Wang (President of the Centre for China Shanghai International Arts Festival – China), Ophelia Huang (Head of International Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center – China), Lin Hongming (Professor and Dean of the Art Management Department of Shanghai Conservatory of Music – China), Tian Gebing (Director, Founder and Artistic Director of Paper Tiger Theatre Studio – China)

More information about the Atelier Shanghai 2017 can be found on the Atelier website.

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