Aug.24-Sept.2, 2019

Nationality: China
Trip location: Zurich, Geneva

Wang Chong, founder and artistic director of Beijing-based performance group Théâtre du Rêve Expérimental, is the most internationally commissioned Chinese theater director. Wang was born in Beijing in 1982. He received his bachelor degree in law from Peking University, and then master’s degree in theater from University of Hawaii.

In 2008 Wang founded Théâtre du Rêve Expérimental. In 2012 he started the Chinese New Wave Theater Movement by presenting a series of new performances with innovative use of body, live video and sound. This ongoing movement gained critical and popular acclaims. UK-based magazine International Arts Management notes “Taking a radical approach to both form and text, Théâtre du Rêve Expérimental has been changing the face of China’s theatrical landscape.”

Wang’s works have been invited to festivals in 16 countries, including: Festival/Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Festival, Toga Asian Theater Directors Festival, Seoul Asian Theater Directors Festival, Singapore International Festival of Arts, Jerusalem Israel Festival, Melbourne Asia-Pacific Triennial of Performing Arts, Adelaide OzAsia Festival, Noorderzon Festival Groningen, Rotterdam Festival de Keuze, Helsingor Passage Festival, Oslo International Ibsen Festival, and Under the Radar Festival New York.

His productions include: The Warfare of Landmine 2.0, winning Festival/Tokyo Award; Lu Xun, noted by The Beijing News as The Best Chinese Performance of the Year; Teahouse 2.0, winning One Drama Award as The Best Little Theater Performance of the Year.

With his unique touch, Wang has also translated and directed Chinese premieres of Heiner Müller’s Hamletmachine, Peter Handke’s Self-accusation, Roland Schimmelpfennig’s The Arabian Night, Sarah Kane’s Crave, Nick Payne’s Constellations, Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues, and Woody Allen’s Central Park West. Wang has led New Wave Theater workshops in Korea, Japan, Singapore, Israel, the Netherlands, and Ireland.

Wang is noted by The Beijing News as Experimental Artist of the Year. He received Asian Cultural Council Fellowship and Han Suyin Award for Young Translators.

At the start of year 2016, Wang stopped using cellphone and social networks. He currently lives in The De-electrified Tenement (TDT), a self-designed Beijing apartment that has no electricity and no electronics.

For his research trip in Switzerland, Wang will visit Zürich Theater Spektakel and La Bâtie-Festival de Genève.