On September 30, the 2021 Chinese Greek Culture and Tourism Year’s “Learning from each other, China Greece Drama Dialogue” activity was held in Hangzhou Butterfly Theatre, Zhejiang Province. Chinese and Greek artists exchanged views through video link. Li Gao, Vice Minister of the Propaganda Department of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Information Office of the provincial government, Xu Peng, member of the Party Leadership Group, Deputy Director General and First level Inspector of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Chen Yao, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of the Zhejiang Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and other leaders attended the event. The artistic director of the Greek National Theatre, the famous Greek dramatist and playwright Eli Gilia, and Wang Chao, the former cultural counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, Zhao Feng, First Secretary of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, attended the event online. More than 120 representatives of mainstream media and audiences from both countries participated in the event online and offline. Eli Gilia, artistic director of the Greek National Theatre, delivered a speech.
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Mr. Luo Jinlin, former vice president of the Central Academy of Drama and an expert on Chinese Greek drama culture, Ms. Mao Weitao, vice president of the Chinese Dramatists Association and a famous Yueju Opera performing artist, Mr. Li Liuyi, a famous Chinese drama director and playwright, Ms. Lydia Koniolzu, former Minister of Culture and Sports of Greece and a famous national treasure artist of Greece, and former art director of the Greek National Theatre Mr. Stasis Livasinos, a famous international drama director, and other guests attended the exchange and dialogue activities. The event was hosted by Ms. Luo Tong, a director, Greek drama expert and resident expert of Shanghai Theatre Academy.
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The event aims to invite drama experts from China and Greece to exchange ideas on how to learn from each other through the lens of drama. The organizer also specially created and arranged a Yueju Opera (segment) of the same name adapted from the ancient Greek tragedy King Oedipus. In order to show respect for the ancient civilizations of the two countries, in addition to the theater version, the Yueju Opera version of King Oedipus also made a special trip to the Liangzhu Ancient City Site, a world cultural heritage site, to make an outdoor recording.
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The guest of this dialogue, Mr. Luo Jinlin, is the son of Luo Niansheng, a world-renowned scholar of Chinese Greek culture. He has repeatedly transplanted ancient Greek tragedies with traditional Chinese operas and performed them in many countries. Ms. Lydia Koniolzu shared her teaching experience in Shanghai Theatre Academy to explore the similarities and differences between Chinese and Greek drama performance and drama education. Mr. Stasis Livasinos was invited to direct the ancient Greek tragedy Agamemnon for the Chinese National Theatre, and shared his creative experience in cross-cultural and cross context drama practice in this dialogue. A video clip of Yue Opera “Oedipus King” was also broadcast on the scene. The play was co created by Mr. Li Liuyi and Ms. Mao Weitao, in which Ms. Mao Weitao played the role of Oedipus King. During the dialogue, Ms. Mao Weitao focused on the “cross gender performance”, highlighting the similarities, acquaintances and blind dates between the ancient civilizations of the two countries. Mr. Li Liuyi made a keynote statement on “returning to classical civilization”.
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It is understood that this activity is a cultural exchange project implemented within the framework of the 2021 Greek Culture and Tourism Year in China. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China, sponsored by the Information Office of the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Zhejiang Province, the Greek National Theatre, and the Chinese Embassy in Greece, and jointly undertaken by Baiyue Cultural Creativity Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Vocational College of Arts.
After the dialogue, Li Gao, Vice Minister of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee and Director of the Information Office of the provincial government, and Xu Peng, member of the Party Leadership Group, Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Zhejiang Province, and First Level Inspector, made a brief speech and congratulated on the success of the event. The Chinese and Greek drama experts had exchanges and interactions with the on-site and online student audience.