On April 24th, the European Drama Competition & Closing Ceremony of the European Cultural Festival, hosted by Faculty of European Language and Culture, lit up the night of Yunshan Hall. With professional stage props and decorations of respective European national customs, seven plays were performed in their original languages by students of the respective majors. The hall was a full house with over 1000 people, creating a lively and exciting atmosphere.

The evening began with SMOK WAWELSKI (Dragon Wawelski), an original script created by the Polish drama crew. The fierce and evil dragon (acted by a male student) had a taste for beautiful young girls in the city KRAKOWIE. The king summoned the brave knights from all over the world to protect Princess Wanda from the dangerous dragon, but all of them failed. However, the story ended in happiness: When Princess Wanda was ready to give up her life, Leszek, a Polish major student from Guangzhou,arrivedtogether with a Chinese dragon. The two dragons fell in love with each other, andLeszek saved the life of the Princess.

SMOK WAWELSKI Presented by Polish Drama Crew

Next was a horror suspense thriller: Los Ojosde Julia (The Eyes of Julia) presented by the Spanish drama crew. Sara and Julia were sisters with a sight problem. One night, Sara hanged herself at home, but Julia didn’t think it was suicide. While she kept searching for clues of Sara’s death, strange things happened frequently;fearworsened her sight and she became blind. Accompanied by a malenurse Ivan, she didn’t feel lonely, until she sensed that this man was hiding some secrets from her: It was hewho killed both Sara and her husband. During the play, the music was thrilling and the sudden death of the character with crying and shouting really put audience into the drama.

Los Ojosde Julia (Spanish Drama Crew)

When the curtain opened again, the scene of another style showed up: a copper street lamp, a red telephone booth, a bar and bench constituted aclassical street of Paris. It was L’HOMME A LA GUITARE (Guitar Man).A handsome man with a guitar sang for a living, with all kinds of people walking past him: a drunkard, a noble woman, a flower girl, a bar attendant… He narrated all about his life withhis enthusiasm and perseverance towards music, to a breakdown caused by his unpopularity withpeople. He incisively and vividly demonstratedthe hardship of life, which sparked a reflection on the contradictionbetween dreams and reality.

L’HOMME A LA GUITARE (French Drama Crew)

DAS PARFUM (The Perfume)was a plot derived from a bottle of perfume. An abnormal person, who had a liking for the fragrance of girls, planned to extract the fragrance from girls’ flesh in order to make a bottle of unique perfume. With this perfect perfume, he was favored by many people, while he killed 25 girls to obtainthe perfume. Though it was challenging for him to express the sense of smell through exaggerated body movements, the performance of the actor was so amazing that the audience burst into applause.

DAS PARFUM (Germen Drama Crew)

The Italian play II SERVITORE DI DUE PADRONI (A Man Serves Two Masters) was a comedy, which lit up the gloomy atmosphere. In order to hide a secret from two masters, the servant made a fool of himself. In the end, the two masters were married and he could keep nothing secret. During the performance, the hall echoed with laughter and audience were enjoying every moment.

II SERVITORE DI DUE PADRONI (Italian Drama Crew)

The Cherry Orchard by Chekhov was presented by Russian drama crew, reflecting the inevitable decline of aristocracy,whichwas replaced by the new breed of bourgeois. Different from other crews, they performed the original sound without dubbing, which was a breakthrough from tradition. Their spirit of innovation and bravery were worth praising.

The Cherry Orchard (Russian Drama Crew)

The last performance of the night, Dois maridos (Two Husbands) was performed by the Portuguese drama crew. It was about a lady’s choice between the soul of her ex-husband and the new life of abundance. The leading lady Flor eventually made a decision to leave her new husband and spent her lifetime with the soul of her dead husband. This drama reflected a scale, of which one side there placed love, while other side placed life demands. 

 

 

The Judge Made Some Comments on the Plays

In the end, the judge made some comments on the seven plays and appreciated the efforts that had gone into the preparations for the excellent dramas, winning rounds of applause from the audience.

Prizes: Best Play:

L’HOMME A LA GUITARE (French Drama Crew)

Best Stage Effects: L’HOMME A LA GUITARE (French Drama Crew)

Best Leading Actor: Pan Jiashi (II servitor di due padroni)

Best Leading Actress: Wang Yue (Los Ojos de julia)

Best Supporting Actor: Ma Siyuan (L’HOMME A LA GUITARE)

Best Supporting Actress: Gong Shan (SMOK WAWELSKI)

Best Dubbing for Leading Actor: Lin Xin (SMOK WAWELSKI)