In the modern cultural context, traditional festivals are experiencing a genuine revival, contributing to the preservation of intangible cultural heritage and the development of the local economy. Chinese folk opera and ritual performances often constitute key elements of the festival program. Furthermore, new theater festivals, such as the Wuzhen Theater Festival and the Aranya Theater Festival, have transformed theaters from a "by-product of festival activities" into an organizing force of this activity. The bilateral formation of theatrical and festival mechanisms is considered in the contemporary context: firstly, how theaters participate in reproducing public time and collective memory through ritualized structures; and secondly, how, by becoming objects of festivals, theaters reconstruct publicness and aesthetics of urban and rural areas through highlighting the uniqueness of place and employing theatrical practices for organizing public space. This work, from an interdisciplinary perspective of theater studies and art studies, combines the theory of ritual theater and the theory of social production of space to analyze the mechanisms of ritual performances of traditional festivals, as well as the spatial practices and aesthetic settings of modern theaters. The scientific novelty of this research lies in the development and application of an original interdisciplinary approach that integrates the theory of ritual theater and the theory of social production of space. This synthetic methodological toolkit allows for conceptualizing the modern theater festival not as a passive cultural product, but as a dynamic socio-cultural mechanism that actively transforms the traditional model of "ritual-performance-community." The author demonstrates how theater, particularly in the festival format, becomes a key agent in reorganizing public space, shaping collective memory, and constructing local identity. This approach reveals how, through spatial practices, digital media, and performative strategies, theater transcends its aesthetic function, becoming an important factor for socio-cultural development and "soft power" in contemporary Chinese society.
Mu Yan (Fri,) studied this question.