As part of the 2025 Yangtze River Cultural Festival, the original Zhangjiagang stage production An Invitation premiered on Oct 24 at Zhangjiagang Poly Grand Theatre, captivating audiences with its creative fusion of cultural heritage and performing arts.
Blending nine representative artifacts from Zhangjiagang with contemporary theatre, An Invitation delves into the stories and meanings behind the relics, building a bridge between material culture and the human spirit. It is a pioneering experiment in transforming museum narratives into live stage performance.
Set in a museum late at night, the play unfolds as nine artifacts — scheduled to be exhibited in Beijing — mysteriously disappear and reappear. Time and space dissolve, and the relics awaken from millennia of silence to debate whether they should meet the modern world once again, revealing the enduring vitality of a civilization shaped by 7,000 years of Yangtze River culture.
A scene from An Invitation. [Photo/WeChat account: zhangjiagangfabu365]