OzAsia Festival to premiere acclaimed dance drama Red Sorghum at the 2014 Festival.

The 2014 OzAsia Festival program will open with the Australian premiere of a thrilling new dance drama, Red Sorghum, adapted from the 1986 novel by Chinese Nobel prize-winning author Mo Yan.

The production is this year’s winner of the Wenhua prize (China’s highest award for the performing arts) and will be performed by The Qingdao Song and Dance Theatre Company, directed by Xu Rui.

Qingdao Theatre Company Presindent Huang Gang was delighted with their success. “We’ve been working on this for three years. Nobody knows how many tears we’ve shed and how much effort we’ve put into this. Everybody has scars from the heavy dancing. The prize is for the dancers. They deserve it.”

Festival Director Jacinta Thompson saw a performance of Red Sorghum in Shandong last year and was deeply moved: “I’m thrilled to be working closely with the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture as we present our Shandong focus for this year’s OzAsia Festival” she said. “Red Sorghum is an extraordinary dance drama production that is exquisite in design and compelling in its storytelling”.

The drama portrays the plight of a group of villagers during the Second...