The Other Shore is a play by Gao Xingjian, first written in the 1980s and later published in English with other plays. It is a symbolic, experimental work in which a group of people are urged to reach a distant shore, an image that suggests freedom or enlightenment. The characters are less individuals than types, and the drama questions crowds, authority and the cost of striving for an ideal. It was controversial in China for its abstract, challenging style and its suspicion of collective thinking.