Guangzhou Opera House will launch a new performance space on October 24 with two acclaimed immersive theatre pieces from Belgium’s avant-garde troupe Ontroerend Goed, offering audiences an experience that redefines what it means to watch a play.
The productions, The Smile Off Your Face and A Gameof You, will be performed for the first time in Guangzhou. Each show admits only one audience member at a time, transforming the performance into a private, 30-minute interaction between actors and spectator.
Stage photo of A Gameof You
In A Game of You, the audience, as the story’s only protagonist, navigates a maze of emotion and self-awareness. The Smile Off Your Face unfolds in complete darkness, using sound and touch to guide the blindfolded audience member through a quiet exploration of trust and emotion.
Since their debut in 2004, the two works have toured internationally and have been praised by European critics as “a confessional for the soul” and “psychological theatre therapy.” Their Chinese-language versions premiered in Shanghai in 2023, attracting more than 9,000 visitors, followed by sold-out performances at the Aranya Theatre Festival and the Hong Kong Arts Festival.
The residency also signals the launch of Guangzhou Opera House’s New Space on the first floor of its Experimental Theatre, which is part of the theatre’s effort to break away from conventional stage formats and nurture diverse artistic expressions.
The new space will serve as a hybrid cultural venue, offering art, immersive theatre, and urban leisure, giving audiences access to more engaging cultural experiences.
If you go:
Venue: New Space, 1st floor of Experimental Theatre, Guangzhou Opera House
Dates: October 24 – November 9, 2025
Languages: Mandarin / Cantonese
Scan to get tickets and choose the time slots.
A Game of You
The Smile Off Your Face
Reporter | Chen Siyuan
Photo | Guangzhou Opera House
Editor | Hu Nan, James Campion, Shen He
