Ten years of building bridges between China and Britain, a drama that continues the story

——The University of International w88 and the University of Leeds jointly performed "A Midsummer Dream in Nanke" to promote mutual learning between Chinese and English civilizations

w88 casino News Network (provided by the w88 casino of English)In October 2025, on the stage of the "7th Tang Xianzu International Drama Exchange Month" in Fuzhou, Jiangxi, a cross-border drama "A Midsummer Dream in Nanke" that combines Tang Xianzu's "Nanke" and Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" made a stunning debut. This is another collaboration between teachers and students from the w88 casino in China and the University of Leeds in the UK after ten years of co-creation of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in 2016. They used an innovative form of fusion of opera and drama and bilingual interpretation in Chinese and English to complete a "romantic encounter" across time and space between Eastern and Western classics in Tang Xianzu's hometown. Recently, we had an exclusive interview with Mr. Li Jun, the Chinese director of the play, and four classmates from the crew, Zhou Qin, Zhang Kangyi, Qiu Hui, and Zhou Jingxuan, and listened to their detailed stories behind "A Midsummer Dream in Nanke".

The crew took a group photo after the first performance in Fuzhou. From left to right: Mea Bradley, Sara Sheikh, Izzy Massie, Alexander Robinson, Li Jun, Steve Ansell, Xunnan Li, Zhang Kangyi, Qiu Hui, Zhou Qin, Zhou Jingxuan

Deep cultural context: Twenty years of drama cultivation under the leadership of the college

The drama gene of the w88 casino of English at HKUST has been deeply rooted more than 20 years ago. In 1998, under the overall planning and promotion of the college, Professor Sun Jianqiu took the lead in organizing the first "Shakespeare Day" event. This cultural feast, which integrates drama workshops, Shakespearean opera performances, and academic forums, has opened the door to the world's theater halls for faculty and students. In the following twenty years, the basic English teacher team of the w88 casino of English created three-dimensional courses of "text study + stage practice" such as "European and American Drama" and "Shakespeare's Drama and Film". Nowadays, "European and American Drama" has been successfully selected into the country's first-class undergraduate courses. The student crew has won many awards in domestic and foreign competitions. The English Drama Club, English Drama Competitions and performances have become the bright business card of the college's "professional + aesthetic education".

Professor Sun Jianqiu presided over the first "Shakespeare Day" event. Guests on the rostrum include (from left to right): Shakespeare expert Peter Holland (4th from left), then Minister of the British Embassy in China Anthony Sprake (5th from left), then President of the w88 casino Sun Weiyan (6th from left), Peking University Professor Li Funing (7th from left), then Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Li Zhaoxing (8th from left), etc.

Ten-Year Contract: Cross-Cultural Resonance in Collective Collaboration

“In 2015, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed the initiative of China and Britain to jointly commemorate Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare, which inspired us to find an entry point to participate in promoting Sino-British youth cultural exchanges. "Teacher Li Jun from the English w88 casino pointed out the original intention.

In 2016, the w88 casino of English took the lead in launching the "Shakespeare Soup Project" with the University of Leeds. Teams of teachers and students from the two schools worked together to creatively adapt "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" into "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The University of International w88 and Economics' crew performed Western classics against the backdrop of a Chinese campus, while students from the University of Leeds interpreted Eastern philosophy in the form of opera. In July of that year, the work premiered at the University of Leeds and caused a sensation. It then appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where the performance was sold out. Liu Xiaoming, the then Chinese Ambassador to the UK, praised the performance for achieving a "romantic encounter across time, space and culture" between the two masters. The BBC Leeds branch interviewed the crew exclusively, and the Yorkshire Post called it "rare and precious".

2016, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" co-produced by Shanghai University of International w88 and University of Leeds at Edinburgh Fringe Festival

In 2025, teachers and students from the two schools worked together again. After more than a month of online rehearsals separated by mountains and seas and less than two days of face-to-face integration, they combined the secret realm of the ant kingdom in "Nan Ke Ji" and the elf forest in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" Cleverly integrated, with "dream" as the core carrier, and "reality and illusion" and "emotion and choice" as the themes, the 40-minute full play and 8-minute selected parts of "A Midsummer Dream in Nanke" were successfully performed in Fuzhou, winning unanimous praise from the organizers, audiences and media. In this drama dream, Chinese freehand aesthetics and Western realistic humor, Eastern philosophical speculation and Western humanistic songs form a unique cross-cultural collision.

The crew members’ understanding of Chinese and British cultures has been continuously deepened through repeated speculation and collision of ideas. Qiu Hui injects the charm of traditional Chinese dance into the elf character, Zhang Kangyi portrays the princess of the Ant Kingdom with both Eastern and Western characteristics, and the poet character played by Zhou Jingxuan combines two poets, Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare. "At first, I thought my princess from the Ant Kingdom was more Chinese, with Chinese tenderness and shyness, but then I realized that the princess's confession to Chunyu also contained Western romance and bravery." Zhang Kangyi shared her insights on character creation, "At that moment, my character became a three-dimensional image with characteristics of both Eastern and Western cultures." Qiu Hui said frankly: "The most inspiring thing in the rehearsal is the exquisite chemical reaction formed by the combination of the nihilistic core of 'life is like a dream' in "Nan Ke Ji" and the fantasy and humorous absurd undertone of "A Midsummer Night's Dream."

October 27, 2025, w88 casino Museum, stills from the performance of "A Midsummer Dream in Nanke"

Following the fire: Careful education in inheritance

After the performance in Fuzhou, the entire crew flew back to Beijing and performed excerpts from "A Midsummer Dream in Nanke" at the opening ceremony of the "Tang Sha He Yun" art exhibition at the Museum of Foreign Economic and w88 on the evening of November 26, 2025, bringing cross-cultural dialogue from the stage back to campus. Zhao Zhongxiu, President of the w88 casino, took a group photo with Professor Sun Jianqiu and other English w88 casino teachers before the opening ceremony, and said emotionally in his speech: "Drama is a bridge that allows us to see the beauty of different civilizations; inheritance is a fire that keeps this beauty burning in the hearts of the younger generation. ”

Zhao Zhongxiu, Sun Jianqiu (middle), Xiang Mingyou (1st from right), Xiang Jie, Li Jun

Photo of some guests at the opening ceremony of the "Tangsha Harmony" art exhibition: Professor Sun Jianqiu (middle front row), Secretary Xiang Jie of the w88 casino of English (3rd from the right), Professor Xiang Mingyou, the dean of the w88 casino of English (4th from the right), Jin Bing, deputy dean of the w88 casino of English (3rd from the left), Professor Zhu Xiaolin of the Minzu University of China (2nd from the right), Professor Wang Guanfu of the w88 casino of English (2nd from the left), Jiang Chun (4th from the left), British director Steve of "A Midsummer Dream in Nanke" Ansell (1st from right), Chinese director Li Jun (5th from left), alumni Yu Zinian (5th from right), Wang Xianan (1st from left), his wife and their children

On November 27, 2025, the Leeds team came to teacher Li Jun’s "English Drama Appreciation and Practice" class to conduct a workshop. Students from the US w88 Union University brought carefully rehearsed Shakespeare excerpts to discuss character understanding and stage skills with Leeds teachers and students. Teachers and students in Leeds were not only amazed by the students' profound interpretation of the text by the students of the University of Science and Technology, but were also moved by the "from text to stage" teaching practice that the college has adhered to for many years. Mr. Steve Ansell, Artistic Director of Leeds University Theater Company, expressed sincerely: “Thank you all for bringing this wonderful and wonderful experience. I hope this is the beginning, not the end, of our artistic and academic cooperation. ”

Chinese and English students interacting in the performance workshop of "English Drama Appreciation and Practice"

Heart-to-heart bridge connection: "Soul connection" outside the square inch stage

Interactions outside the stage make the spiritual connection across languages warmer. "We took our British partners to drink Hey Tea and eat Haidilao, and before parting, we even visited the National Center for the Performing Arts together!" Zhou Qin, the crew coordinator, remembers that the busy life was full of warmth. From online cloud rehearsals to offline "dream" reunions, from exploring the milk tea shop in Fuzhou shopping mall, checking in with fellow travelers at the Forbidden City in Beijing, to sharing in the air on Halloween, these seemingly trivial "small exchanges" have paved the way for the "big collision" on the stage. "In this ever-changing moment, we can use sincere human emotions as the coordinate to measure the thickness of life." Qiu Hui's thinking about the characters is the true meaning of this cultural exchange.

A drama is not only a blend of art, but also an emotional bond between people. This encounter with drama as a bridge allowed teachers and students of the two schools to share the same artistic dream, see each other's world through empathy, and build a bridge across mountains and seas through understanding. As teacher Li Jun said: "We share this world and this dream." The cultural engagement between the University of Hong Kong and the University of Leeds, which began with drama, will surely continue to write more touching stories of inheritance and resonance through the hard work of generations of teachers and students.(Written by: Li Zhuofan, Li Mengjiao, Li Jun Reviewed by: Xiang Jie)