IT is that time of the year again when Shanghai buzzes with a month-long festivity. This year, the Shanghai International Theater Festival is bringing 16 contemporary plays. They will be staged at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center and 1933 Shanghai Micro Theater in the 1933 Old Millfun.

Tonight, audiences will get the chance to watch “Titus Andronicus 2.0,” an audacious physical theater adapted by renowned director Tang Shu-wing from Shakespeare’s gory revenge classic. It is about Roman general Titus Andronicus, who defeated the Goths, and his revenge with Tamora, the Queen of Goths.

It is a minimalist production. The paraphernalia are removed on an empty stage floor lit measurably on seven chairs and actors.

The Hong Kong director will give a lecture tomorrow afternoon at the Dramatic Arts Center, sharing his experience of working on “Titus Andronicus 2.0.”

Also tonight, Taiwan’s Théâtre des Enfants Terribles will present the clown “Mamma Luna.” The 70-minute show begins with an old woman sitting on the edge of her bed — alone — in what seems to be like waiting for death. The radio announces the giant moon, Mamma Luna, an ancient Mayan myth, is appearing. The audience will find out what happens only when the moon shines brightly.

“ACT introduces international contemporary theater to domestic and overseas audience,” says Yu Rongjun, chief director of ACT Shanghai International Theater Festival.

“It is also a platform for art festivals home and abroad to learn about outstanding international dramas.”

The annual theater festival in Shanghai started in 2005. This year the theme is “Heritage and Present.”

Over the past 11 years, nearly 100 modern dramas from Asia and other parts of the world including Japan, India, the US, Germany, Australia, Turkey, Israel, Moldova have been staged.

Groups from Beijing, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Jilin, Fujian, Hong Kong and Taipei in China have also staged their works here.

Some of the plays at this year’s festival like “Titus Andronicus 2.0,” “Fatzer,” “Day Cosmonautics,” “The Flood” and “BLAM!” have been staged abroad like the Edinburgh Festival.

Two shows from Australia and Denmark are the big highlights this time.

With a reputation of being provocative, moving and genre defying, Finucane & Smith Unlimited is bringing to Shanghai its first original Australian drama, the haunting Gothic “The Flood.”

The play, written by award-winning playwright Jackie Smith, stars Australia’s “national treasure” Moira Finucane.

It is set in 1999 in a disused sheep farm, next to the river that is rising. As the sun sets, the floodwaters trap three women — a mother and her two daughters, one who takes care of her, and the other who has been away for 20 years.

The Danish physical theater “BLAM!” will be presented by Kristjan Ingimarsson Company and Glynis Henderson Productions. The 80-minute play, which has no dialogue, will take audiences on an extraordinary riotous adventure.

To escape their tedious 9-to-5 jobs, four ingenious office workers invent BLAM! — an imaginary game where ordinary life is put through the shredder.

The workplace is transformed into a world populated by aliens, superheroes and classic blockbuster movie villains — with neck-breaking stunts, breathtaking physical feats, exhilarating parkour and heaps of attitude.

“Fatzer” from Japan, staged last week, is an innovative work that uses Brechtian humor. Fatzer is among a group of World War I soldiers who are hiding in a basement.

The show won fans in Shanghai immediately because it “impacted the audiences’ hearts and inspired our thoughts on war, life and the world.”

But it also received some negative feedback as well.

“I didn’t understand what the play was about — Japanese language with some broken Chinese, very noisy sound effects. To be honest, watching it was painful,” an audience member commented after watching the show.

“ACT is not a mainstream festival and each play has its own audience group,” Pearl Wang, from the marketing department of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, tells Shanghai Daily. “We hope more audiences can watch the plays, but we also hope more ‘right’ audiences show up as well.”

According to the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, its audience club has over 30,000 members, but only a very small part of them follow ACT festival.

“Focusing on contemporary works is the most important characteristic of the festival,” says director Yu. “During the festival, the latest contemporary plays are presented, with each one reflecting its country or region. The festival is aimed at promoting original works with the spirit of the age and new interpretations of classics.”

During the festival, Swiss artist Marie-Caroline Hominal will join participants to explore the topics of identity, transformation and repetition, all key elements of her work.

Plays on offer

• “Titus Andronicus 2.0”

Date: November 18-19, 7:30pm; November 19-20, 2pm

Venue: Studio D6 of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 6/F, 288 Anfu Rd

Ticket: 180 yuan, 280 yuan

• “Mamma Luna”

Date: November 18-19, 7:30; November 20, 2pm

Venue: 1933 Shanghai Micro Theater, 2/F, Bldg 1, 611 Liyang Rd

Ticket: 120 yuan

• “The Flood”

Date: December 2-3, 7:30pm; December 3-4, 2pm

Venue: Drama Salon of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 3/F, 288 Anfu Rd

Ticket: 180 yuan, 280 yuan

• “BLAM!”

Date: December 7-10, 7:30pm; December 10-11, 2pm

Venue: Arts Theater of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 1/F, 288 Anfu Rd

Ticket: 150 yuan, 280 yuan

Outreach programs

• Lecture “The Motivation Behind Pre-verbal Expression — Directing and Acting of Shakespeare”

Speaker: Tang Shu-wing

Date: November 19, 3:30pm

Venue: Studio D6 of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 6/F, 288 Anfu Rd

• Workshop “Encounter · Space: Exploration of Contemporary Performance”

Facilitator: Marie-Caroline Hominal

Date: November 25, 7:30pm

Venue: VIP Lounge of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 3/F, 288 Anfu Rd

How to get tickets

• For performances at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center

Box office: G/F, 288 Anfu Rd (daily, 9am-8pm)

Official Taobao ticketing service at sdac.taobao.com

Ticket hotline: 6473-0123, 6473-4567

24/7 tickets website: 247tickets.cn/sdac2016act

Ticket hotline: 5456-2471

• For performances at 1933 Shanghai Micro Theater

Box office at 1933, G/F, Bldg 1, 611 Liyang Rd (daily, 9am-6pm)

Official Taobao ticketing service at 1933drama.taobao.com

Ticket hotline: 400-888-1933

More information is available at the official website (www.actfest.com), English available.