A new production drawing on Chinese mythological source material is set to premiere in London and Edinburgh in August 2026, staging an ancient philosophical figure through contemporary physical theatre. The Death of Hundun, produced by Qiaoran Li, takes its title from the figure of Hundun in early Chinese cosmology — a being representing primordial chaos whose dissolution, in classical accounts, gives rise to the structured world.
Li, who is completing a Master’s degree in Applied Theatre at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, has described the production as both a stage work and an act of cultural interpretation aimed at UK audiences unfamiliar with the source material.
The Production’s Central Tension
The work centres on a single woman’s interior journey, framed through the philosophical opposition embedded in the Hundun figure itself.
“The Death of Hundun combines ancient Chinese philosophy with modern physical theatre, following a woman’s psychological journey between emotional collapse and rational restraint to explore the tension between chaos and order in human civilisation,” Li said. “The production is not only a stage performance, but also a contemporary interpretation of traditional culture, showcasing the possibilities of cross-cultural storytelling and performance.”
The framing — chaos and order as competing psychological registers rather than abstract forces — places the production within a strand of contemporary physical theatre that uses bodily performance to externalise interior states. The choice of source material distinguishes it: Western physical theatre has more frequently drawn on Greek or Shakespearean material when working in mythological registers.
The Producer’s Background
Li’s path to The Death of Hundun runs through more than ten years of training and stage experience in China and a sequence of UK production credits over the past eight months.
She graduated from the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts with a degree in Musical Theatre Performance and began her career with the Shanghai Anke Musical Troupe, starring in Fatal Coffee. She also worked under Professor Li Dun, widely recognised as a pioneer of original Chinese-language musical theatre, on productions including Die, Mama, Love Me Once Again — an experience she has credited with shaping her interest in long-form narrative theatre.
In 2021, she transitioned into production work, joining Shanghai Theatre Academy Cultural Development Co., Ltd. as a Production Assistant on the historical costume drama Anle Zhuan. The production premiered in summer 2023 and has since accumulated more than 22 million online views.
Recent UK Production Credits
Li’s UK production credits began with the 2025 short comedy The Mask Policy at the Hen & Chickens Theatre, on which she served as Executive Producer. Written by Tianjiao Tan and directed by Yi Tang, the production examined workplace identity through physical comedy and received three stars from Everything Theatre, which called it “witty and engaging.”
In March 2026, Li worked as Production Assistant on While We Wait at Arches Lane Theatre, directed by Scott Le Crass and written by Craig Doe Wilmann. The romantic comedy received three stars from Everything Theatre and five stars from Curtain Call Reviews, the latter highlighting the production’s “deep emotional resonance” and ensemble work.
Alongside her commercial production work, Li has led inclusive arts workshops in the UK for participants with intellectual disabilities and Down syndrome, extending a community programming practice she developed earlier in China.
The August Run
The Death of Hundun is scheduled to premiere in London and Edinburgh in August 2026. The two-city run marks Li’s most ambitious UK production to date and positions the work to reach both London’s fringe audiences and Edinburgh’s August festival programming window — typically among the most competitive periods in the UK theatre calendar.
For Li, the production extends a working pattern visible across her UK output to date: cross-cultural source material staged within the standard infrastructure of British independent theatre, rather than positioned as visiting or specialist programming.