The filmmaker's project, a performance, which he calls a 'conceptual show', is about the relationship between people and technology. Chen Nan reports.

Zhang Yimou, one of the country's most successful filmmakers, is known for interpreting traditional Chinese culture into international hits, including his martial arts epics, Hero and House of Flying Daggers, and art-house film Coming Home.

However, the 67-year-old, who is also a multiple Oscar nominee, is still pushing boundaries.

His new project, a performance, which he calls a "conceptual show", is about the relationship between people and technology.

The show, titled 2047 Apologue, will premiere in Beijing at the National Center for the Performing Arts over June 16-18, and will then tour several Chinese cities, including Hangzhou, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

"The audience will not watch a story in the show. It's about the past and the future," says Zhang.

"It's an exciting experiment because I have never dealt with this subject in theater before. It will also be a fresh experience for the audience because the show is unconventional in terms of how it is presented."

Artists from seven countries will perform in the show, including traditional Chinese folk artists, such as suona players from Liaoning province; puppet players from Quanzhou, Fujian province; dancers and chorographers from the United Kingdom; and technology companies from Europe and the United States, which will combine technology, laser lighting and robots with performers onstage.

"Technology changes our lives. But when I think of the relationship between technology and humans, I don't just see the positive side. The excessive use of and development of technology can also be a bad influence. We take things for granted and ignore our roots," says Zhang.

Besides films, Zhang has also directed stage productions.

In 1998, he directed a version of Puccini's opera Turandot.

He was also director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

In 2013, a Peking Opera performance, You and Me, directed by Zhang, premiered at the NCPA.

In 2047 Apologue, the way he combines traditional Chinese arts and technology aims to create a contrast and a harmony onstage.

In the show, Wu Shuxiang, 77, from Anhua, in Southwest China's Guizhou province, will display her weaving skills with her 200-year-old weaving machine.

Wu, from the Miao ethnic group, learned the skill from her mother.

Also, for the first time, she will sit in front of her machine and weave accompanied by contemporary dancers from CPG Concept, the UK-based dance production company.

The show will also feature LED light elements from German interactive art and design studio WHITEvoid and Russian media design studio Radugadesign.

Speaking about her role, Emma Seward, one of the choreographers from the UK, says: "It's my first time working with traditional Chinese instruments. I am curious to see how the audience reacts to our performance."

Musician Wu Tong, a Grammy-winning player of the sheng (a traditional Chinese wind instrument), along with two of his students, will work with drones from Zurich-based Verity Studios and technology company Sky Magic from Japan.

One of the performers, Qiu Jirong, a crossover Peking Opera artist, will do an 8-minute dance, aided by German laser company Bocatec.

"The dance is about me trying to escape the laser beams, which are killing me. We, human beings, have created this technology but it is turning out to be a disaster. It makes you think," says Qiu.

Zhang also says that part of the title of the show, 2047, came from a joke he made with his production team.

"The number, 2047, is one year more than 2046 (a Hong Kong romantic drama film written and directed by Wong Kar-wai in 2004) and it is also 30 years from now.

"Who knows what we will be like and how technology will change in 30 years?" says Zhang. "The audience may have the answer after watching the show."

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