"The Girl, the Devil and the Windmill"
The annual China-Franco cultural festival "Croisements" will feature about 150 exhibitions, workshops, and performances in 30 Chinese cities. The series of events will start on 29th of April and last two months.
Last year the festival attracted 2.3 million people. This year, the program is split in seven categories — visual arts, young public, theater, music, films, dance and books.
Classics like Moliere's last play "The Imaginary Invalid" to children's workshops with contemporary French illustrators and musicians are part of the program. The popular music festival and film festival are also coming back with a well-rounded guest list that will showcase the best of French music and cinema.
"Since its inception, the festival has been the beating heart of France in China — a source of creativity, enjoyment and freedom," Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, French ambassador to China, said.
"The artists involved in this 11th edition reveal both the beauty and the hardship of the world, as well as its complexity. They help us to better understand the world by questioning it — at times impertinently, but always with a respect for the viewing public."
This year's program puts a heavy focus on theatrical performances. In addition to "The Imaginary Invalid," newer plays like "Closing of Love" by contemporary playwright Pascal Rambert will be introduced to the Chinese audience. Olivier Py, the director of Avignon Theater Festival, is also scheduled to visit Shanghai in May.
French director and comedian Michel Didym will bring his version of the "The Imaginary Invalid," to the Majestic Theater in Shanghai between May 13 and 15.
The story's protagonist Argan is a wealthy hypochondriac who plans to marry his daughter Angelique to his doctor friend Diafoirus. Angelique, however, has a lover, and Argan's second wife only cares about inheriting his property after he dies.
"The work is a type of accomplishment — a culmination of Moliere's entire dramatic output," the director said.
"It is a play that affects us all. In Moliere's time, just as today, hypochondria is both a psychological disease, an internal theater and a representation."
Platform of communication
For the past 10 years, the festival has also become a platform where Chinese and French artists communicate and collaborate across cultures. This year, Pascal Rambert, the director of the T2G — Theater in Gennevilliers, has directed the Chinese adaptation of "Closing of Love."
