Founder of Diffraction Theatre

Jing Wang Thomas is an award-winning artist, director, and scenographer based in the UK. She was awarded an international scholarship from the Cambridge Trust in 2023 and is continuing her PhD research at St John’s College, University of Cambridge. She was named a St John’s Scholar in 2022, a distinction recognising excellence in the arts, creativity, and education during her MPhil degree. She holds an MA in Scenography from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London, supported by a scholarship from Professor Gavin Henderson CBE. She is the founder of Diffraction Theatre, a transdisciplinary collective that explores whether “waves” of artistic practice and theatrical discourse can resonate, interfere, and align with scientific and philosophical ways of understanding the world.
 

In recent years, her research has focused on how new materialism functions epistemologically, as well as the non-anthropocentric perspectives it offers within theatre-making. Her recent virtual reality project Life of Galileo (2022) formed part of a digital research initiative at the University of Cambridge. Ballad of the Pipa (2021) is an intra-active VR work exploring the relationship between human presence and digital scenography.
 

Over the past two decades, she has designed for major productions across China, the UK, and Europe. Selected works include The Diaries of John Rabe (2019) at the Berlin State Opera and Vienna’s Ronacher Theatre; Lao Can Impression (2019) at London’s Southbank Centre; Memory (2019) at the Beijing Stage Design Invitation Exhibition; The Tenant (2017) at the National Portrait Gallery; 170 Days in Nanking (2017) at the Jiangsu Centre for Performing Arts; Hamlet (2016) at the National Centre for Performing Arts, Beijing; Normal Love (2014) at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London; and 27 Wagons Full of Cotton (2014) at the 1st Toga Asian Theatre Directors’ Festival in Japan.170 Days in Nanking was shortlisted for the International Opera Awards 2018 in the UK.