STAGE SHOWS:
High-quality, low-cost productions enliven the small-theater segment
Star Theaters, the first venue of its kind in the Chinese capital, offers a platform for smaller productions and has gained a following among young audiences.
At 7:30 pm on April 8, the curtain rose at Star Theaters on a Chinese play, Traveling Without a Plan, which premiered in 2013.
About half an hour before the performance started, Xia Jing, one of those lining up outside, asked her friend, “What’s this play about?” Her friend replied, “Breaking up.”
Xia said, “I hope it won’t make me cry.”
As the lights dimmed, the two-hour performance began, during which Xia not only cried but also laughed so hard that she was in tears.
Traveling Without a Plan, which features just six performers playing multiple roles, tells the story of two young lovers who decide to end their relationship by traveling to Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region.
They opt to make the trip on impulse. As both are aware they are going to end their relationship after the journey, it allows them to be more understanding and patient toward each other. As the trip draws to a close, they break up and move on with their lives until they meet up again in a few years’ time.
Xia said: “I never expected them to go ahead with their plans to break up after they traveled together. They apparently still loved each other. I don’t understand the reason, but I was very touched by the production.
“The performers seemed to be about the same age as myself, and I had also experienced romantic breakups, which meant that I could relate to the roles.”
It was the first play that Xia, 24, had watched at a small theater, and her second-row seat gave her an immersive experience as the performers improvised conversation with the audience.
Also on April 8, on the other side of Beijing, another play, The Life Comments of Two Dogs, was staged at Penghao Theater, which is also a venue for smaller productions. Premiered in Beijing in 2007, The Life Comments of Two Dogs is one of the most popular dramas directed by Meng Jinghui. It follows a conversation between two dogs that leave their hometowns and head to the city, full of dreams.
For decades, China’s small-theater scene has offered trendy venues for young people in urban areas looking for a different theatrical experience, including the method of storytelling, the music, stage design and costumes.
For directors, scriptwriters, set designers and performers, small theaters provide a platform to experiment with new ideas and technology.
This year, the small-theater scene in China celebrates its 40th anniversary, with numerous activities being held in Beijing, including photo exhibitions, workshops and forums.
These events recount the history of small theater by referring to one play in particular, Absolute Signal, directed by Lin Zhaohua, which is widely considered to be the nation’s first small-theater production.
The play premiered in 1982 and was produced by Beijing People’s Art Theatre, which was founded in 1952. Renowned playwright Cao Yu (191096) was the venue’s founding member and first president.
Beijing People’s Art Theatre is
considered the flagship for Chinese drama. Many of the plays the venue has staged, such as Teahouse, adapted from the work by Lao She, and Thunderstorm, written by Cao Yu, are classic Chinese theatrical productions. The venue’s motto, “A play is bigger than the sky” is printed on a huge banner hanging on a wall of the rehearsal room.
Absolute Signal marked a breakthrough for the established theater.
The idea for the production came when Lin, a young director, decided to stage a new play. He wanted to do something different from the traditional dramas the venue had staged previously.
Lin, who was born in Tianjin and graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 1961, gathered the cast members together, brainstorming ideas and performing improvised acting in an abandoned train carriage in Beijing in 1982. The story of Absolute Signal unfolds in a railway setting.
The play centers on five characters — the train captain and his young trainee, a robber and two passengers — an unemployed young man and a young woman who keeps bees.
Lin, now 86, said in an earlier interview: “It was a humid summer. We went on lots of train journeys, especially at night. It was so quiet inside and outside the carriage, making the rumbling of the engine particularly clear. We talked, smoked cigarettes and drank tea together. We had great moments that were full of creative thinking.”
In August 1982, Absolute Signal premiered in a small rehearsal room at Beijing People’s Art Theatre. The stage set was simple — comprising just a few boxes and steel frames — and the room was packed with audience members, who were captivated by a pioneering artistic style they had never seen before. The play’s creativity also had a lasting influence on the performers.
Veteran actor Feng Yuanzheng, who watched the premiere, said: “When the actress walked down from the stage and started to speak her lines, I felt my heartbeat accelerate. She was standing right next to me, which was a new experience for me in the theater.”
Feng said he cried when the actor playing the jobless young man spoke of his problems and worries.
“I was in the same position as him, having no work and feeling depressed about my future,” said Feng, who had just quit his job as a factory worker and was hoping to become an actor, which he subsequently succeeded in doing with Beijing People’s Art Theatre in 1985.
Cao Yu, the then-president of Beijing People’s Art Theatre, wrote to Lin, congratulating him on the success of Absolute Signal.
“We need plays with different artistic styles. For theater, we should never stop pushing the boundaries to create new works for audiences,” Cao wrote in his letter.
After Absolute Signal, Beijing People’s Art Theatre staged numerous small-theater productions, launching its own small theater in 1995 near Capital Theater, its home.
Huang Yanzhuo, director and scriptwriter of Traveling Without a Plan, said: “When I was a student, my teacher told me to watch as many plays produced by Beijing People’s Art Theater as possible. I particularly love watching the venue’s small-theater productions — original ones and those adapted from Western classics. I love the atmosphere in theaters, especially the curtain call.”
Huang, 40, who graduated from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts with a master’s in directing in 2008, has directed 12 small-theater productions, with Traveling Without a Plan one of her most popular works.
She said directing this production was an unforgettable experience.
“It was mid-October in 2013. After rehearsals, I took a walk on the street outside Star Theaters with the cast members. There were lots of ginkgo leaves turning yellow, which was very beautiful. We shared our love stories, which inspired us to create the play,” Huang said.
The original cast members, including Zhang Chi and Kong Lingmei, have since become celebrity performers. In 2013, Huang also directed The Desperate Love, which was produced immediately after Traveling Without a Plan. To date, The Desperate Love has been staged nearly 3,000 times nationwide.
Huang said: “Communication between the audience and cast members onstage differs widely between traditional, bigger theaters and smaller venues. In smaller theaters, with less distance between the performers and the audience, there is intense emotion and instant feedback from the audience.”
Yang Qianwu, secretary-general of the Beijing Theater Association and a well-known drama critic, said the small-theater scene has boomed since the 1990s, featuring high-quality and low-cost productions.
To mark the 40th anniversary, the association released four lists, naming 40 scriptwriters, 40 directors, 40 actors and actresses as influential figures who have made a contribution to such productions. It also named 40 small-theater plays that have proved popular among audiences. Veteran and new artists are listed, showcasing the development of small theater in China.
Yang, who researched small-theater productions after watching Absolute Signal as a university student in 1982, said, “There are many such theater companies with big ideas, which make the scene vibrant.”
He also referred to Ma Qian Po Shui, the first Peking Opera show staged at a small theater, which was directed by Zhang Manjun and premiered in 2000 by the Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing. Jingju, also known as Peking Opera, was listed as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2010.
Ma Qian Po Shui tells the story of a troubled couple during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). A wife unhappy with her life leaves her husband. After he is given an official position and finds success, she wants to return to him, but he rejects her.
Yang said: “Unlike traditional
Peking Opera, Ma Qian Po Shui allows audiences a closer look at this ancient art form. The story is told in a way that appeals to young people, and the artistic style is groundbreaking.”
An increasing number of traditional Chinese opera artists have started to test their ideas by staging works at small theaters.
In 2014, Star Theaters launched the Xiqu Opera Black Box Festival, gathering traditional Chinese operas from around the country. Xiqu refers to such operas. In addition to Peking Opera, the festival staged Kunqu, Cantonese and Yueju operas.
Yang said: “Although traditional Chinese operas are often considered old-fashioned, directors, scriptwriters and actors present these old art forms with fresh ideas. For example, the stories are told with a contemporary touch, which connects to and resonates with our daily lives.”
Peking Opera actress Suo Mingfang, who teamed up with director Li
Zhuoqun in 2013 and has appeared in productions staged at small theaters, said, “For actors and actresses, it is challenging to perform at such
venues, because all the performers’ movements are clearly seen by the audience.”
The pair’s Peking Opera shows,
including Yan Xijiao, A Love Beyond and Hero Wu Song, are based on traditional Chinese stories and are produced with a contemporary twist.
Suo, 37, who joined the Jingju Theatre Company of Beijing in 2006 after graduating from the National Academy of Chinese Theater Arts, said: “I recall the first time I played at a small theater. The audience members sat so close to the stage that I could hear them breathing.
“Just as with traditional shows in big theaters, Peking Opera performances at small venues are rooted deeply in the old art form, including the way in which the actors move and sing on stage, but we try to make the shows more contemporary, including the way in which the stories are told.”
Companies producing smalltheater shows also play an important role in contributing to this booming scene in China. One of the oldest such companies is Zheteng (Beijing) Cultural Communication Co, which was founded in 2008 by Fu Ruoyan. The company has produced over 60 plays for small theaters, staging them more than 2,500 times around the country.