The Shanghai Jing'an Theatre Festival, presented by Modern Drama Valley, is taking over venues across the district with a lineup of international productions, so wherever you are in Jing'an, there's probably a show happening nearby.

Built around the idea of "the whole city is a stage," the festival brings together works from different countries, styles, and languages, all running across different dates and theatres. Expect everything from visually driven pieces to experimental storytelling and modern interpretations of classics.

Highlights:

The Sheep Song is a visually driven theatre work by Belgian collective FC Bergman. Without dialogue, the production tells a surreal story of transformation through physical performance and stage imagery. The show will make its mainland China debut in Shanghai at Daning Theatre.

This musical theatre adaptation of The Little Prince is a co-production between Yuanhua Theatre and France’s Théâtre National Populaire. Directed by French theatre artist Jean Bellorini, the production blends theatre, live music, and poetry in a contemporary interpretation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s classic story. It will be presented as part of the 2026 Shanghai Jing’an Theatre Festival.

Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days will be presented by Brazil’s Armazém Theatre Company as part of the 2026 Shanghai Jing’an Drama Festival. The minimalist absurdist play follows a woman buried in a mound who continues her daily routines while confronting the passage of time and the limits of existence. This production reinterprets Beckett’s classic through the company’s visual stage language and physical performance style.

A solo physical theatre work inspired by bird migration, Zugunruhe follows the journey of a marsh warbler across continents through sound and movement. Performer Tom Bailey recreates bird behavior on stage, accompanied by a digital sound map of migration. It’s a quiet, imaginative piece that connects animal instinct with human experience.

A solo performance that turns animal imitation into something stranger and more reflective, Wild Thing! races through thousands of endangered and extinct species in under an hour. Created and performed by Tom Bailey, it blends physical theatre, sound, and absurd humor into something that gradually shifts tone. What starts playful doesn’t quite stay that way.

A documentary-based theatre work by Tiago Rodrigues, built from real testimonies of humanitarian workers. Through layered storytelling and live performance, it reflects on the limits of action, responsibility, and what it means to try to change the world. Performed in multiple languages, it brings intimate human stories onto the stage without claiming to explain them.

Whether you're into visual theatre, absurdist classics, or intimate solo performances, there's something here to surprise you and it's all happening in Jing'an.