Can you remember the last time you watched a full-length Shakespeare play? For the past two decades, few productions have been staged in China.

  

But this is about to change with the "Forever Shakespeare" festival this month. From Oct 10 to Nov 2, eight companies from China, Britain, South Korea and Lithuania will perform Shakespeare's most popular works as part of the Third International Drama Festival presented by the National Theater Company of China.

  

The opening show Ming is inspired by Shakespeare's King Lear. Directed by Tian Qinxin (pictured right), Ming tells the story of the Emperor of China's Ming Dynasty who thinks of abdicating the throne, but cannot decide which of his three sons, with very different personalities, should succeed him. He faces the same dilemma as King Lear who decides to abdicate and divide his kingdom among his three daughters.

  

The festival will also include actual productions of King Lear, Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream, besides two productions of Hamlet and two of Romeo and Juliet.