Meng Jinghui Photo: Courtesy of Beijing Fringe Festival

The annual Beijing Fringe Festival, a welcome celebration among the city's theatergoers, opened with Chinese director Li Jianjun's drama A Beautiful Day in 2020 on Friday. 

As the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak has deeply impacted the live performance market, 2020's festival aims to encourage different experimental performances that incorporate an online component. According to Meng Jinghui, the festival's artistic director, the number of dramas staged won't be reduced due to the outbreak, and in fact will be more readily accessible since they will be available online.  

A total of 13 dramas will head to theaters for the Theaters On Stage section. These dramas will also be made available on China's streaming platforms after the live performances. 

International cooperation is also moving online, with 11 international theatrical works from countries such as Germany, Japan, France and Italy, which will be available on Chinese streaming sites since mid-October, said Meng. 

Li's A Beautiful Day became a hit after making its debut in 2013. Various versions have toured cities including Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. The new version that opened the festival continues the director's original idea of allowing amateur actors speak for the city in which they live. 

Each member of the audience can choose to listen to the story of any of the 20 performers on the stage by tuning to his or her channel through a radio that is given out before the performance. 

Li said he hopes audiences can look back on the past 20 years through these 20 performers' narrations.