Watery Wuzhen puts on a wave of shows

This year, the festival also shed light on inclusive art, with a "Nothing Is Impossible" section dedicated to The Revised Future, a play written and performed by actors with diverse abilities from The Pleasure Troupe, an original theater brand founded by a group of enthusiasts.

The production addresses social issues in a sci-fi setting. In a distant future under alien attack, people with disabilities are able to receive body modifications and are treated as superior to those without disabilities. The protagonist, a boy without disabilities, is accused of patricide, and as the trial progresses, the group's struggles come to light.

"My parents taught me to dedicate 10 percent of my free time to public welfare," says Ma Yan, the play's director. "I first worked with people with disabilities in 2008, when I volunteered at the Summer Paralympics and received training on how to offer accessible services."

The reason why some people overlook social resources for people with disabilities is because they fail to consider that they might find themselves in a similar situation at some point in their lives, Ma adds. By reversing the social dynamics between those with and without disabilities, the production allows the audience to see things from the perspectives of others.

The Revised Future won best play award at this year's Nanjing Festival of New Theatre, where Lai was chairman of the committee. In the hopes that more people would be able to see the play, he invited the troupe to perform in Wuzhen. "It is featured in the festival because it's a high-quality production, free from external biases. The Wuzhen festival is fundamentally inclusive and diverse. We would like to promote all types of theater productions here," Lai says.