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Young dramatists center stage at festival
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“NORTH Shanghai,” a stage drama following three generations of a Shanghainese family living along the Suzhou River, made a quiet splash on its debut last month at the Share Youth Creative Theater Festival.
Started in 2009, the annual festival is meant to bring new stage works from talented young performers and artists to a wider audience.
This year’s event — which centered around the theme of “Let’s Look at the Three-Dimensional World” — ran from August 5 to 23, and showcased nine original drama productions. The shows themselves were staged at the Shanghai Drama Arts Center, Ke Center and Shanghai 1933.
“Drama has a tremendous power to draw out a sense of social responsibility among young theater workers,” says Yang Shaolin, an organizer of the festival as well as the general manager of the Shanghai Drama Arts Center.
“We hold this festival to provide a platform for young people with a passion for drama and encourage them to be creative, think independently and work as pioneers when it comes to connecting with audience members,” explains Yang, who is also an accomplished actor in his own right.
One of the young people who shone during the recently concluded festival was Qian Zijun, a senior majoring in art management at the Shanghai Theater Academy. Qian produced “North Shanghai” and was also involved in the festival as a volunteer.
For Qian, bringing the family saga to the event marked her first real foray into the often challenging world of theater production.
The play was written by Li Yichen, a graduate from the academy. Li spent four years working on the script.
Despite Li’s work, the play’s director, Chen Jiawei, struggled to bring it to life on stage. Early efforts to produce the show were all but abandoned — but then word came that “North Shanghai” had been accepted to the youth theater festival. With Qian’s encouragement, efforts to realize the play continued.
“The play was almost given up until we were invited to participate in the festival,” she says, describing the event as a “professional and influential platform.”
In the end, the production proved a hit. During the festival, both of the play’s performances were staged in front of sold-out crowds.
On the back of this achievement, “North Shanghai” is now being staged at schools across Shanghai. It is slated to hit the Shanghai International Art Festival on October 20 and 21, as well as the New Space Theater at the Shanghai Theater Academy on September 25 and 26.
Another festival highlight was the debut of “Trifle.” The play combines elements of Peking Opera with the plot line of O Henry’s short story “The Cop and the Anthem,” set against the backdrop of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 AD). The show also featured a performance from Ji Xiquan, an award-winning Peking Opera star.
“Trifle” was the first publicly-performed show from Changning District-based drama troupe Little Robert. This semi-amateur group was founded only last year, and contains just a handful of core members, all of whom have full-time jobs. For the fledging group, inclusion in the festival has an invaluable experience in terms of exposure.
“This show would never have a chance of being staged if we did not receive support from the youth theater festival,” says Zhang Chuyin, the show’s producer as well as a member of the Shanghai Mass Art Center’s marketing department.
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