Ghosts 2.0 offers two perspectives on drama

Ghosts 2.0, an adaption of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's classic work, is presented both onstage and on screen. Photo provided to China Daily

It's difficult to tell whether you're enjoying a movie or a stage drama when you're watching Ghosts 2.0.

While four performers onstage are acting in front of four cameras on tripods, you could see their close-ups at the same time on the split screen via a big projector in front of you.

It's the latest work of avant-garde theater director Wang Chong from Beijing-based Theater du Reve Experimental. As an adaptation of Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen's classic work, it is running this week at Festival/Tokyo 2014.

"It's an innovative and convenient way to demonstrate the characters onstage. It's like communication on the Internet because performers stare at the camera directly and sometimes will take a selfie," Wang says.

He has used live video of performers onstage in many of his productions, such as Woody Allen's Central Park West and Thunderstorm 2.0, based on Chinese playwright Cao Yu's work.

In the 70-minute Ghosts 2.0, you have to focus on the actors' body language and the images on the projector at the same time.

The play's production director, Inger Buresund from Ibsen International, says the company collaborated with Wang because he is not using video as a scenographic element but as a storytelling tool, together with the real action onstage.