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Char Li Chung

Biography

The work of director Char Li Chung (the Netherlands, 1995) is full of language and energy, and shamelessly romantic. Starting out from the different ways people are able to love, he creates productions that are personal, but never autobiographical. Putting both the existing and new theatrical repertoires and his actors at the centre, he strives to create a theatre that wins our hearts and is simultaneously full of love, tragedy and hilarity.

Italian-Dutch Char Li Chung graduated in Directing in 2017 from Toneelacademie Maastricht with the successful production The Dreamers. At Frascati, he previously presented what we talk about when we talk about love (Fraslab October 2017). Early in 2018, for Frascati Producties he made Bij jou begin ik, about the tendency to constantly look for new beginnings while at the same time dreaming of an eternal, unique, all-transcending love. Drawing inspiration from a plethora of literary classics and cult films about awakening, barely concealed homosexual eroticism, with this production Chung presents the ideals of an increasingly popular subculture, breathing new life into old motions of the heart. Bij jou begin ik was nominated for the BNG Theaterprijs award.

For Frascati Issues #Rebel (2018), Chung created a presentation with three adolescents from Amsterdam: Silva, Kedves and Laurens. They want to rebel – but is this still possible? "You know what Amsterdam’s problem is? You can’t get the stones up out of the streets. If there even are any." February 2019, at Frascati Producties he presented Don Caravaggio, inspired by his fascination for two of the most important freethinkers in history: guided by Molières depraved son Don Juan and the Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio he explores the morals, styles and costumes of the 17th century. The performance was an instant hit with the press and audience, clever and hilarious, baroque and outrageous, an unrestrained ode to the artist´s passion.

Char Li Chung (1995) graduated in 2017 in Directing from Toneelacademie Maastricht with the enthusiastically received production The Dreamers. He is completing a talent development course with Frascati Producties, supported by Toneelgroep Oostpool, where he has now acted as directing assistant to Marcus Azzini and directed the company’s theatrical contribution to the 1st Arnhemse Uitnacht festival. For the upcoming season, he is creating the youth production KIDS (12+) with Toneelgroep Oostpool and Theater Sonnevanck. He also made a coming of age-production as part of the 75th anniversary commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem, with Adriaan Luteijn of Introdans. For Frascati Producties, Char Li Chung created Bij jou begin ik (2018).

Productions

  • Wolven huilen niet alleen (Frascati Producties/Toneelgroep Oostpool, 2020)
  • Don Caravaggio (Frascati Producties, 2019)
  • Lurk moar! (Fraslab, 2019)
  • Bij jou begin ik (Frascati Producties, 2018)
  • The Dreamers (Toneelacademie Maastricht, 2017)
  • What we talk about when we talk about love (Fraslab, 2017)

Press

"The uninhibited purity of Char Li Chung’s ‘Bij jou begin ik’ is a real breath of fresh air and demonstrates an idealism that may no longer be of our era – or perhaps it is exactly that [...] This is a really important production, and so different from the normal, run-of-the mill offerings."

★★★★ Theaterkrant

"Take this stuff on tour right away!"

De Groene Amsterdammer on The Dreamers