Another young director Lin Xi'er, who won the Special Attention Award in 2023 with a monodrama, will stage Macbeth in the Warehouse. In the story, a 29-year-old director grapples with a 43-year-old amateur actress, the only person who auditioned for a role, on gender issues during rehearsals.

"Wuzhen Theatre Festival has become a platform for young practitioners to show their work," Chen says. "That is part of our mission, and something we take pride in."

The international lineup includes Cyrano de Bergerac by Japanese director Tadashi Suzuki, Flower in the Mirror, Moon in the Water by Stan Lai, who is also the festival's cofounder and director, and Multiple Bad Things by Australia's Back to Back Theatre.