The familiar stories with unfamiliar treatments have shocked quite a few spectators. A student who watched Suzuki's version of Cyrano de Bergerac asked the Japanese master whether what he did to the classic amounted to "blasphemy". The female lead does not have the kind of qualities - in appearance or voice - that many associate with romance, and the two male leads deliver their lines with a harshness that shook many in the audience from what was otherwise an ambience of love. On top of that, Suzuki requested that only a few lines be translated into Chinese titles, an approach he intended to divert audience attention back to visual elements.

This goes against the conventional wisdom that was developed in China over the past six decades. Despite mavericks like Lin Zhaohua, Chinese theater, especially the play, has been under the Russian influence of Stanislavski, who emphasized naturalism and realism. "The world has blossomed into a rich variety of styles while we are still clinging to one flower. This festival opened our eyes," says Li Longyin, an expert on theater who was involved in the selection of festival programs.

"Technically, our productions do not lag behind others," says Guo Xiaonan, a theater director whose The Scholar and the Executioner is showcased in the festival, "but we are behind in conception. And this event has jolted us out of our complacency."

The heavily stylized productions have shifted audience focus from playwrights to stage directors. Some people are so impressed after watching works by Suzuki and others that they have concluded that only mediocre productions care about stories and lines.

Fortunately, the festival has programmed diversity into its genres and styles, some of which are dependent on dialogue. A Midsummer Night's Dream from the Globe Theater has no change in lighting or set but, as a throwback to theatrical practices of Shakespeare's days, it certainly illuminates what makes a play into a classic. TNT Theatre Britain's Hamlet is so sparse, with only seven actors taking on all roles, that visually it would have been lost in a sea of student productions. Productions go through stylistic cycles, but the Bard's lines and tales are forever enchanting.

Overall, as the pendulum swings from realism to stylization, innovation in presentation is the strongest message sent from the Beijing edition of the Theater Olympics, which will end with The Sound of Music, a piece clearly designed to appeal to the broadest cross-section possible and with inbuilt resistance to any conceivable theatrical revolution.

Contact the writer atraymondzhou@chinadaily.com.cn