MADE IN CHINA 2.0

Performance | By Wang Chong | TIPPING POINTS Series

Wang Chong is China’s most prolific theater director, a global nomad who presents a moving play that is also an artistic manifesto. After the play was performed in 2025 as part of the Forum at the Berlin Theatertreffen, it is now coming to Cologne’s FWT.

We can’t really say what this work is about. Why all the secrecy? We can’t really answer that question either. But what can we say? This performance is a surprising solo piece about creative risk-taking. Wang Chong finds himself alone on stage, presenting a personal manifesto on artistic creation at home and abroad: a performance with just as many questions as answers.

“Made in China 2.0” is not only an illuminating portrait of family and pop culture; it is also a moving reflection on the role of artists and provocateurs in uncertain times. This work premiered in Boston in 2023 and has since been performed more than 60 times on six continents.

Duration: 55 minutes
Language: English with German subtitles

Wang Chong is the founder of the Théâtre du Rêve Expérimental, a Beijing-based performance group. He is the Chinese theater director with the most international commissions: his works have been performed in more than 20 countries and praised by critics around the world. Wang Chong’s works radically reinterpret classical and contemporary literature, experiment with theatrical forms and multimedia strategies, and thus offer critical, often confrontational commentary on modern Chinese history. Wang Chong’s works include: “The Warfare of Landmine 2.0,” which won the Festival/Tokyo Award in 2013; “Lu Xun,” which was named the best Chinese performance of 2016 by the Beijing News; “Teahouse 2.0,” which won the One Drama Award for Best Little Theater Performance of 2017; and “Asiawochen,” premiering in 2026 at the Theater Heidelberg. Since 2022, he has been leading a global nomadic life.

The guest performance “Made in China 2.0” is supported by the Kunststiftung NRW.