Interconnected stories

Tatiana Ligari, director of Women of Passion, Women of Greece, believes that monodrama's unique charm lies in its ability to reach "something deeper in our emotion".

This is why she thinks that the best part of this festival is its ability to allow audiences to directly experience different countries and civilizations.

"In many performances, we see good singing, good dancing, but what happens with the culture, the mind, and the soul in these countries? If we have an international monodrama festival, people can liberally discover the spirit of other countries," she said. "I believe very much in the power of women. So, I tried to find Greek women famous in the world and speak through them."

One of the goals of this year's festival is to allow Chinese audiences to hear the voices of creators from across the world and to facilitate exchanges and learning between Chinese theater practitioners and their global counterparts.

"Especially for young creators, it's essential not to work in isolation. They should go out more, watch more plays, and read more books. Many of the esteemed directors, like Lin Zhaohua and Stan Lai, spent significant time abroad watching numerous foreign productions before developing their unique worldviews and styles," Li stated, expressing her hopes for the youth and her desire to support them.

The competition segment of the festival offers a valuable opportunity for young dramatists early in their careers. According to Li, two to three works will be selected and promoted, giving the creators the chance to participate in commercial performances. This exposure helps the plays attract more invitations for future shows.

"The life of any play should not be confined to a single festival; it needs to be seen by more people to gain stronger vitality," she explained.

For example, last year's first-prize winner, the puppet monodrama Riding Alone, has seen significant development after continuous incubation. The play has been performed at the Edinburgh International Festival, the Daliangshan International Theater Festival, and in cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

One of the nine works in this year's competition is Seabird, directed and performed by Zhang Le, a 24-year-old from Hohhot in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

About a year ago, Zhang had just graduated with a degree in performing arts and was making a living by directing tourism shows. At the time, he felt somewhat dissatisfied with himself and still hoped to pursue independent creative endeavors in theater.

While rereading Russian writer Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, Zhang was struck by the similarities between the young playwright Treplev and himself: "We are both poor, troubled, yet persistent," he said. This inspired him to create his monodrama Seabird, in which he depicts the painful struggle young people face between reality and their ideals.

To date, Zhang has independently created six plays — all with small casts — including two two-person shows and four monodramas.