CURTAINS up. Children and parents enter the 40-seat tent, with boxes in the shape of stars decorated on the wall. Each box contains a story, told not only in words, but also through various kinds of animated visuals such as shadow plays and moving images.

“Songs from Above,” a children’s theater from Denmark using innovative storytelling methods, is the second show of the ongoing China Family Arts Festival in Shanghai, organized by the non-profit organization Little People, Big View, intended to bring better shows and a bigger view for young children.

“The experience of live performance, of feeling something beautiful on the spot, of emotions from direct interactivity at a close distance, is very good to have at a young age, even just once,” says Zhu Jiaxiong, a professor in preschool children’s psychology and education at East China Normal University.

Zhu says the top priority for children’s theater should be that it’s truthful, projects good will and beauty and is felt through creative storytelling methods, rather than fed or taught.

“But children’s theater is a luxury,” Zhu quickly follows. “Due to its limited shows and high price, only a very few kids get to experience it.”

Zhu’s feelings are shared by many parents, who find it difficult to bring their children to a good show, even in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

Huge potential

The market is there, with huge potential. According to China’s 2010 census, more than 8 percent of Shanghai’s 24 million residents are children under 14, which means that close to 2 million children are potential audience members.

Many have been trying to make the cake larger and take a good share.

According to data from the Beijing Trade Association for Performances, there were 4,551 children’s shows in 2013, up by almost half from 2012, comprising about 20 percent of all performances in the city.

There is no concrete data from Shanghai, but it is likely similar to Beijing, due to parents’ strong awareness of education in these cities.

The rise is slower in smaller cities and the countryside, but it is there. The China Association of Performing Arts’ official website says about 16 percent of all shows nationwide last year were children’s dramas.

While the market is expanding quickly and everyone wants to take a share, the quality of most dramas worries experts and parents. In the past, almost all shows designed for children were organized and performed by state-funded and owned children’s theaters, and the quality was high. Now, many private theaters have joined, creating fierce competition but many shows are not well-funded, hence not well-produced.

Low quality productions

“Most shows don’t even specify an age range, a basic requirement for children’s theater, because the needs for each age group are very different,” says Teresa Lin, a 32-year-old kindergarten teacher and mother of a 5-year-old son.

“I have seen many children’s shows with vulgar or violent elements.”

It is not uncommon for Chinese people to think of children’s drama as deserving of a lower budget and lower quality.

“It should not be the case,” says Chen Jizen, founder of the family arts festival, who has picked three foreign shows from more than 200 to be played in Shanghai in November and December. “Children’s theater is actually more difficult, since it is hard to keep their attention span. Children are the most critical audience, because they are very straightforward with their feelings. Their reactions are also very spontaneous. Once you lose their interest, they are gone forever and the show is doomed.”

Chen, who used to work for the Shanghai International Arts Festival, considers her 3-year-old daughter a top criteria to pick shows. “I have brought her to many shows, and she has been a great judge. I can tell whether a show is good simply by whether she enjoys and wants to stay,” Chen says.

Adding other criteria, she and her team decided to pick three shows.

“The market and product for kids are more mature in the West,” she says. “Many artists who devote to children’s theater are very professional. They respect the kids as equals. They have even studied child psychology, and they design all the details in the performance so carefully.” “I’ve also seen many Chinese kids’ dramas. Most are not well-designed or produced. There isn’t a lot of innovation or imagination involved. They often just use a very old-fashioned, fable-like story-telling method, which make the stories very childish.”

Toughest critics

Chen adds: “It is simply wrong to think that kids are simple and they need simple stories. They are more sophisticated than one would expect. They can simply understand sophisticated ideas as long as they are delivered in a good way.”

She gives the example of “Cloud Man,” a puppet show where Scottish artist Ailie Cohen recounts her journey of believing in the existence of Cloud Man. The stage is minimally decorated and the only prop is a puppet of Cloud Man and some cardboard clouds.

“But many kids and even their parents cried when watching it,” Chen recalls after seeing it last weekend. “It is such a simple story that delivers a universal and warm message, easily understood by children. Stories that are not well-told often appear too complex to children while too childish to parents.”

She adds: “That is really important, because then it is not the grown-ups sacrificing their time to watch a silly little show with their kids. Instead, they enjoy the performance together, and they have something to talk about for a long time. It becomes a bridge between parents and children.”

Chen has also chosen the program with consideration of different genres of theater, because “children have no restrictions on genres.”

“They go with direct emotions, and they can accept anything, from multimedia, dance, theater to musical, as long as it is well told.”

“Children’s Cheering Carpet,” an Australian/Italian show, is the last in the festival, an engaging theatrical fantasy combining multimedia technology with contemporary dance.

“Our goal is to go wilder in the future, to more unconventional venues like galleries, restaurants, schools, so that more children get to experience this,” Chen says.

Highlights of the ongoing China Family Arts Festival in Shanghai

“SONGS from Above” (for 2-6 years old)

Date: November 22, 10:30am, 4pm, 7pm; November 23, 10:30am, 3:30pm, 5pm;

November 26-27, 4pm, 7pm

Venue: a starry tent hidden in the childhood lanes along Huaihai Road, details to be released

Seats: 40 (including children and adults)

Ticket: 200 yuan

Children’s Cheering Carpet (for 3-11 years old)

Date: December 4, 4pm, 7:30pm;

December 5-6, 4pm, 7:30pm;

December 7, 3pm, 5pm

Venue: Drama Salon, Shanghai Drama Arts Center, 3/F, 288 Anfu Rd

Seats: 100 (including children and adults)

Ticket: 150 yuan