God of Thunder set to take French audiences by storm

SanTuoQi's production Thor of Common Man wins acclaim at Festival d'Avignon in France. Photos Provided to China Daily

New production from innovative theater company combines dance with traditional Chinese performance arts.

The God of Thunder is sent to stop mankind's endless warring across the globe. How will he react when the faithless people cast him out? SanTuoQi theater is taking its new show Thor of Common Man to Festival d' Avignon in France after its successful debut at the event last year.

Inspired by the 18th century author Yuan Mei's absurd and humorous Censored by Confucius: Ghost Stories and Chinese people's complex relationship with the God of Thunder, Zhao Miao, writer and director at SanTuoQi, has combined traditional Chinese shadow play and Nuo Opera, one of the most ancient forms of folk operas from Southwest China, with Western physical theater.

"Theater should not rigidly adhere to a certain style of performance, but learn to be more inclusive and to attain more advanced visions," Zhao says.

"SanTuoQi has endeavored to use traditional wisdom about the arts from Chinese folk culture. This allows us to go further on the international stage."

Zhao founded SanTuoQi in 1996. It is one of the first Chinese performance groups to combine dance with a wide variety of Chinese traditional art performances.