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The 12th Wuzhen Theatre Festival will run from Oct 16 to 26, according to the press conference that took place at Wuzhen ancient town in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province, on Aug 5.

Under the theme "Swirling Up", the festival features a lineup of special productions, youth performances, carnival events, theater markets, and interactive public art installations.

Meng Jinghui, the festival's artistic director, announced that this year's special performance section will include 25 plays from 10 countries, to be staged in 71 performances across 10 venues in 11 days.

The highly anticipated opening performance is the Chinese debut of Anthropolis, a nine-hour theatrical journey directed by Karin Beier, written by Roland Schimmelpfennig, and produced by the Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg. The play, inspired by five Greek myths, features German actress Lina Beckmann playing five roles in a two-hour monologue.

The Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg will bring over 90 actors, 72 staff members, and more than 400 props to Wuzhen, with two full runs scheduled during the festival.