Online performance Waiting for Godot is directed by Wang Chong, co-produced by Guangzhou Opera House and Tencent Arts. The cast and crew work from their homes in four different cities: Beijing, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Datong. The rehearsal process and the performance are completely online. It premieres at Tencent Video on April 5^th and 6^th. The main characters are interpreted as a couple in quarantine waiting for the outbreak to end. Its Act I alone attracted 180,000 audience, breaking the record of single performance attendance in Chinese theater.

Wuhan, the epicenter of Covid-19 that was still in lockdown, plays an important role in the show. The presence of Wuhan actor Li Boyang and the hope brought by the landmark Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan becomes a national sensation. The director Wang Chong publishes Online Theater Manifesto after the show, calling for free thinking towards the future of theater arts.

People.com comments, “the performance not only explores new possibilities of arts during the pandemic, but also rethinks about theater itself.”

Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, Waiting for Godot

Waiting for Godot