LEE BREUER'S SHALOM SHANGHAI

A musical drama about a Jewish-run café in Shanghai during WWII, Shalom Shanghai was originally developed through a workshop in Shanghai in 2009, organized by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center and was first performed at the historic Ohei Moshe Synagogue at the center of the old Jewish ghetto of Shanghai. A revised and fully-produced production—a collaboration between Chinese and US artists—premiered at the 2013 Shanghai Arts Festival.

Shalom Shanghai demonstrates unprecedented international collaboration not only in its content, but also process. The text for the piece was written by Dr. William Sun, Vice President of the Shanghai Theatre Academy and one of China’s most prominent contemporary playwrights. It was directed by internationally-renowned director Lee Breuer and produced by the Shanghai Theatre Academy and the Shanghai Arts Festival in association with New York-based producer Sharon Levy, Dovetail Productions. The cast included Chinese and foreign actors and the show was performed bilingually with subtitles.