National Theatre forms partnership with China

Scotland's recent connections with China have encompassed both major Chinese productions at last year's Edinburgh International Festival, as well as the arrival of the two giant pandas, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, at Edinburgh Zoo.

Now the national theatres are to engage in an intense series of collaborations which will result in new Chinese writers and plays from China being performed, with assistance from NTS staff, at the popular A Play, A Pie and A Pint season at Oran Mor in Glasgow.

The National Theatre in China has been "inspired" by the NTS and its way of working with new writers and new writing, which has seen more than 100 productions in its first six years, including works by David Greig, Gregory Burke, Rona Munro and Abi Morgan, among others.

For the launch of the partnership in Beijing and Shanghai this week, there will be events including a writing laboratory and talks by George Aza-Selinger, literary manager of the NTS.

In the "24" project, the playwright and director Davey Anderson and Aza-Selinger will lead a two-week writing course for 10 selected Chinese writers in Beijing this summer.

The writers will then be given 24 hours to write a one-act play, which will be given a public reading in Beijing and will be "considered for a production in Scotland".

The selected playwrights will be invited to Scotland this autumn to work on their plays and a selection will be produced for Oran Mor's A Play, A Pie and A Pint in 2013.

The seeds of the new partnership were sown in September last year when Vicky Featherstone, artistic director of the NTS, invited Li Dong, the executive producer, and theatre director Tian Qinxin from the National Theatre of China to participate in an artistic residency in Scotland.

During the residency, Ms Tian was given an insight into how the NTS worked, and met artists and students from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow University and Sahbal Mór Ostaig.

The National Theatre of China is the largest state-level performing art organisation of the People's Republic of China.

Founded on December 25, 2001, it focuses on producing original plays as well as classical works.

Ms Featherstone said: "I am honoured and delighted to be able to announce the beginning of a long theatrical relationship Scotland will develop with China. One of the most important things we can do in theatre is to make a platform for writers and to help them achieve their potential.

"We are thrilled to be working with the National Theatre of China, in this respect, with a country with such a rich culture, and such a diverse population.

"I am delighted to be part of this new initiative and can't wait to see what new ideas and writing talent will be discovered."

Other bodies involved in the collaboration include the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, the British Council in Beijing, The Confucius Institute for Scotland in Edinburgh University and Peking University.

The development activities in China are being led by Ms Tian, who is also the vice-director of film, television and theatre at Peking University.

Zhiqiang Zhou, president of the National Theatre of China, added: "It looks like there will be many exciting possibilities for long-term collaboration between Scotland and China.

"We are thrilled to build a long-term relationship with the National Theatre of Scotland, a company of high artistic quality."

Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop said: "This lively and exciting collaboration is another example of how Scotland's relationship with China is being strengthened across a wide spectrum of cultural, business and education links.

"Artistic exchanges like this are crucial to creating a climate of mutual trust, understanding and friendship between our two countries."