AM774 . Bruce in Beijing

Close collaboration between China and the UK on a major theatrical production

2015-08-06 14:16:54

 

New London Theatre performance of  War Horse (photo Brinkhoff-M枚genburg

The cast of War Horse at the New London Theatre (Photoby  Brinkhoff-M枚genburg)

War Horse - New London Theatre  (Photo by Brinkhoff-M枚genburg)

War Horse at the New London Theatre  (Photoby Brinkhoff-M枚genburg)

War Horse performed at the New London Theatre  (Photo by Brinkhoff-M枚genburg)

 

 

Katrina Gilroy, producer from the National Theatre of the UK, was in Beijing recently working in cooperation with the National Theatre of China (NTC) on the forthcoming production of ‘Warhorse’. In today’s feature Katrina talks more about the intensive work that goes into making sure it will be a success on stage.

Music and song play important parts in the show which will have a narrator called ‘Songman’ who takes the audience through the journey because Joey, the horse, cannot of course speak.

Katrina talks of the excellent cooperation with the NTC and mentions in particular Producer Li Dong who first saw the production in London. His vision was to bring it to China, and as Katrina explains, the NTC proved to be the perfect partner particularly with their organisational skills.

The production will be in Chinese with a totally Chinese cast – this required detailed collaboration between both theatres on translation of the script. It was essential that the local audiences here would understand the story and have the same feeling that audiences back in London continue to have. There have been great efforts also behind the scenes making sure that everything such as wardrobe and effects will be perfect for the first night.

Warhorse will be performed from 4 September with fifty performances over six weeks at the NTC on Guang’anmen Wai Dajie before moving on to Shanghai.