Producer of PKU Institute of World Theatre and Film
Professor Joseph Graves
Joseph Graves is the artistic director of Peking University’s Institute of World Theatre and Film, a part of Peking University’s School of Foreign Languages. The Institute has 3 missions: (A) It produces plays in China, often mixing Easter and Western theatre artists and technicians; (B) It promotes, facilitates, sponsors exchange and interchange between the Chinese theatre communities and those around the world; (C) It is working to establish Performing Arts Departments in Mainland universities. In his last 9 years in China Joseph has produced and/or directed more than 60 plays, including many Chinese premieres of Western pieces. He has worked in co-operation with such Chinese theatre companies as The People’s Art Theatre of Beijing and The National Theatre of China. His acting, directing and writing work have been seen in numerous countries, including: the US, Great Britain, France, Italy, Russia, New Zealand, and throughout the Middle East and China. He has performed over 100 leading roles on stage, such as the title characters in: King Lear, Othello, Hamlet, Richard III, Macbeth, Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, Henry V, Tartuffe, Uncle Vanya and many more, including contemporary dramas and comedies, and much musical theatre. (Joseph has performed in and directed productions of all of Shakespeare’s plays.) In the early 80s he appeared as guest-star in a number of American televisions shows such as Knight Rider and Fantasy Island among others. Joseph has written several films including,Sweetwater which launched VH1’s Movies That Rock series in America, and Hannah And Jack for Academy Award winner, Sir John Mills in Great Britain. Joseph’s latest play, Revel’s World of Shakespeare (in English and Chinese) is available through Bookman Books Publishing in Taiwan, and appeared in the March 2011 issue of PLAY, China’s premiere theatre magazine.