Behind the scen
The Shanghai Poly Grand Theater in Jiading District has been building its audience since it opened four years ago. It has put on 1,180 performances and introduced nearly 20,000 artists to more than 800,000 visitors.
Zhu Guiyin, a technical manager at the theater, is one of the group of lighting and sound engineers and set designers who have made all the theater’s achievements possible.
“A stage, however its complexity, requires us to finish its arrangement one day before the performance,” said Zhu. “We need at first to get in touch with the troupes, to know what kind of equipment is needed, what the stage layout is and what the choreography will be. We feel glad when the troupes can visit the theater when we are arranging the stage. But sometimes they can’t and we can only depend on phone or e-mail exchanges, and problems may occur.”
Once a misunderstanding occurred because a translator mistranslated the voltage of electromechanical equipment before the Russian drama “Slava’s Snowshow” was staged at the theater at the end of 2016.
“Safety of the performers needs to be ensured first and foremost,” said Zhu. He explained how ventilation was stopped to prevent performers from being hurt by scissors attached on ropes as props and how the staff rearranged the stage and reduced the weight of the props to ensure the stage was not overloaded.
“We may just need strength and care to dismantle a stage, whereas to arrange the stage we have to use the brain,” said Zhu.
The theater invited more than 500 troupes from 24 countries and regions to stage performances over the past four years. Famous artists such as actress Liu Xiaoqing, dancer Yang Liping, conductor Tan Lihua and director Lin Zhaohua have set foot there.
The meticulous pursuit of the artists and their art in turn encourages the theater employees to do well.
When Lin Zhaohua’s play “The Three Sisters Waiting for Godot” was to be staged in the theater, the crew arrived beforehand to do their final rehearsals due to the different stage, lighting and sound conditions between Shanghai Poly Grand Theater and theaters in Beijing.
“We did everything possible to meet the crew’s requirements to ensure the success of the performance,” said one theater employee.
When world-renowned violinist Pinchas Zukerman expressed an interest to perform in China, the theater immediately sent out an invitation. An agreement on poster design was reached after rounds of neg intended to focus on foreign troupe hope be publicized.
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