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Dateline: 27th June, 2008
The NYT in Beijing The National Youth Theatre will travel to BEIJING on Saturday 5th July as its international venture East to East culminates with a group of thirty members performing at the new National Centre for the Performing Arts in Tiananmen Square. As part of the International Youth Arts Festival, itself part of the Cultural Olympiad, the NYT will be staging their production of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice. Having been officially invited by the Chinese Ministry of Culture, the NYT will be the only British company to take part in the International Youth Festival and the first British company to be allowed to stage a production at the world's newest and most stunning Grand Theatre - the NCPA on Tiananmen Square. The NYT, by arrangement with Shakespeare Schools Festival, will be performing Sir Tom Stoppard's abridged version of the play. The play's themes are interesting ones, given the audience in China, as it deals with prejudice, racism, conflict of faith and issues of a daughter's freedom from her father and from society in general. Replying to criticism of the visit because of the situation in Tibet. NYT director Paul Roseby said, "Why are we going? Quite simply to move beyond our own political beliefs and to bring positive action to the situation. Politicians put up barriers, but through the work of our young performers and in the spirit of friendship that embodies the Olympic Games, we are aiming to dismantle those barriers. "During the Tibetan protests we canvassed the opinion of our 4,000 national membership and 99% of them were fully supportive of the idea that the NYT should continue its plans to go to China. It is important to have positive cultural exchange. We will break down those political and social barriers from within, not through street protests, and build a positive legacy which is a strong part of the Games' ethos of 'Youth and Friendship'."
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