Noted Chinese director Meng Jinghui also took six original Chinese dramas to that festival as cultural exchange productions. "It was the first time a Chinese theatrical troupe staged at this top international theater festival," says Gong Baorong, vice director of the Shanghai Theater Academy.

Festival d'Avignon was founded in 1947 and is supported by the French government. Today it has two parts, IN and OFF. IN productions are invited and funded by the government. OFF productions, which were initiated in 1966, can apply and must support themselves.

This year festival will be held from July 5-26. The program has not been announced.

Three year ago in 2010, the Shanghai Drama Arts Center and Border Crossings collaborated for the first time to create "Re-Orientations," which debuted in London's West End.

The production, set in Shanghai, involves a divorced British couple who come together because of their daughter's suicide, a Chinese woman who flees to Shanghai after her husband gives up their daughter, an Indian fisherman whose ambition is to appear on television, and two Swedish actors who arrive in Shanghai to perform but are going through a relationship crisis.

"It is a heady mix of East-meets-West, a spectacular international multimedia stage production, created with artists from China, England, France, India and Sweden," says the British theater director Michael Walling. In 2009, the Shanghai Drama Arts Center invited Italian director Giacomo Ravicchio to adapt the Chinese fairy tale love story "White Snake" into a big production. It combined multi-media, jazz, blues and Chinese traditional music. It was invited to stage at various art festivals, including shows in Denmark, South Korea and Turkey.

Chinese dramatists' journey to the international mainstream stage is difficult. On the cultural stage, most of the best-known Chinese productions are still traditional operas, not original dramas, and they are not commercial productions.

The level and quality of original dramas also has not reached that of the mainstream international stage.

"In Western countries, a drama that can be staged for more than three years is recognized to have its place in the mainstream theater market. It's definitely difficult for original Chinese dramas to knock at the door of Western theater stages," says Zhang, the director of the Modern Theater.

The Modern Theater is now performing British playwright Michael Parker's well-known comic works, including "The Sensuous Senator" in Chinese at the Lyceum Theater and the Xinguang Little Theater in Shanghai.

"We hope to enter the mainstream market in Western countries with help of the playwright," Zhang states.

When it comes to which shows should be staged abroad, both Chen and Zhang agree that they should be experimental, creative and in the vanguard of new theater.

"In my experience, the shows involving physical theater and fewer dialogue will win more attention and acceptance in overseas markets. Of course, another important thing is featuring Chinese traditional elements," Chen says.

In addition to the major problem of language, limited themes also prevent Chinese dramas from making it to international mainstream stages.

"When we emphasize the Chinese traditional elements reflected in a production, it becomes difficult to keep dramatic values close to the international mainstream. In other words, we don't have much international resonance with foreign audiences," Chen adds.

"We need to be confident, but we should be clear about this situation and fact - it will take a very long time to close the gap between our original Chinese works and the international level."

By Nie Xin (Shanghai Daily)