Today, there are 100 new performing arts spaces throughout Shanghai, and many new spaces are in the budding and developing.
In this city where "theater is everywhere, art is available to everyone", everyone is staging their own wonderful, and they are eager to get the comfort of the heart and the development of thinking in the encounter with art.
In the future, Shanghai will not only strengthen the "performing arts dock", but also become the source of original works. In this sense, there is still more room for development in the new space for performing arts.
Professional theater to create boutiques,
New spaces open up more possibilities
On December 19 last year, the musical "December 19, 2021", co-produced by Shanghai Culture Square Theatre Management Co., Ltd. and Chongbang Group, was staged in the North Square of Lane 8, Jinchao, which set up old buildings and staged in the alley block full of urban memory and fireworks, and in the changing light and shadow, the actors and the audience shuttled through four popular musicals: "Apollonia", "Southern Tang Dynasty Lord", "Fan Letter" and "Romeo and Juliet".
Towards the end of the performance, a line was typed on the wall of the old building: "Wherever people pass, they become theaters." ”
If the places where people pass have become theaters, how do traditional professional theaters view the new trends and new patterns of the performance industry?
Zhang Jie, vice president of the Shanghai Grand Theatre Art Center and general manager of Shanghai Cultural Square, said frankly that in the face of the rise of the new space for performing arts, she has experienced a process of opening her mind.
Three years ago, those small-scale fragmentary performances were not really performances in her opinion. After the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the performances of traditional theaters have been affected to a certain extent, and the lightweight performances of the new performing arts space have been pushed in front of the public. In 2020, Shanghai Culture Square expanded the outdoor stage into a new space for performing arts and launched the "Outdoor Performance Season".
This time, after creating a musical in Lane 8 of the present tide, Zhang Jie had a new understanding: "The new space for performing arts emphasizes a truly performance-centered experience, with performance as the center, in fact, it is centered on the people and the audience." The audience of the performing arts space is obviously larger than that of traditional theaters, not only the frequency of performances, but also the forms of performances. ”
At present, more and more professional theaters in Shanghai are opening up their minds and making idle venues a vibrant new space for performing arts.
Shanghai Grand Theatre New Box unveiled
"Dreams are more than stages" is the theme of the performance season proposed by the Shanghai Grand Theatre in 2018. Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of the Shanghai Grand Theatre, believes that buying tickets, watching plays and listening to concerts should not be the only purpose for people to enter the Grand Theatre. In recent years, the Shanghai Grand Theatre has gradually opened up the space outside the theater, attracting people to enter the Grand Theatre to experience art on a daily basis.
In 2020, the Shanghai Grand Theatre opened the A+ Art Space, which includes a coffee shop on the first floor of the theater, an art shop, a parent-child reading area, a central stage and an art exhibition hall.
At the end of 2021, the small theater of the Shanghai Grand Theatre was re-unveiled after renovation, and the new name was called New Box, this new magic box-like space made many new attempts in terms of sound effects, boom system, and motion capture technology, and the first resident performance "Rock Nine Pick", was very popular. "We want technology and art to produce chemistry in this 'magic box' and produce unique works."
Zhang Xiaoding believes that there is no competitive relationship between professional theater and new performing arts spaces. If Shanghai's performance market is forming two dimensions - professional theater and new space for performing arts, then professional theaters focus on creating high-quality performances, and new spaces for performing arts should expand richer artistic possibilities. The relationship between the two is a ladder, which can jointly optimize Shanghai's performance ecology, attract talents, incubate the repertoire, cultivate the audience, and enhance the city's cultural soft power.
The musical "December 19, 2021" was staged in the North Square of Lane 8 of the present tide, photographed by Zhao Qian
Improve the industrial chain,
Create quality content
The rise of new performing arts spaces is gradually transforming Shanghai into an open-air theater. However, space is only a physical form, and what can really retain the audience must be a work that moves people's hearts.
After "there is a drama in the whole city", how to create more good dramas?
Zhang Jie, vice president of the Art Center of Shanghai Grand Theatre and general manager of Shanghai Cultural Square, believes that the new space for performing arts needs to form a more complete industrial chain from creation, performance, production to consumption, and it is imperative to improve the content production mechanism and incubation mechanism. In the future, new spaces that can meet people's multiple needs at the same time, such as catering, entertainment, and performances, may have a longer-term vitality.
"The new space for acting is very hot now, but who is the audience? What are the behavior patterns of the audience? There is still a need for in-depth big data research, and through the screening and analysis of data, help each new performing arts space embark on a virtuous circle. For the leaders of this industry, it is necessary to further study where the new space for performing arts is being demanded. Zhang Jie said.
Xia Jieqiu, deputy director of the Department of Cultural Industry of the School of Humanities of Tongji University, proposed that the key to creating high-quality content in the new space for performing arts is excellent performing arts talents and high-quality original content. At present, there are many new performing arts spaces looking around for high-quality performance content, in fact, Shanghai universities have many graduates of performing arts-related majors every year, for those new forces with enthusiasm and creativity, the new performing arts space may provide a place for them to display their talents.
Shanghai has a number of national first-class literary and art academies and excellent private academies, may wish to also set their sights on the new space of performing arts, combined with their own advantages and the characteristics of each space, to explore a new artistic expression.
If you compare a traditional theater to a large-scale shopping mall, the new performing arts space is like a specialty store for various small performances. Creating its own "treasure of the town store" according to local conditions and bringing the audience a unique experience that is different from professional theater is the way to survive in the new space of performing arts.
Some insiders pointed out that small musicals are the favorite performance types of many new performing arts spaces in Shanghai, but most of them still import overseas plays. In the future, we can use the advantages of the low cost of performances in the new space to attract outstanding talents to create more original works.
In addition, some of the new performing arts spaces are very suitable for becoming "specialty stores" for opera performances, and there are not many new performing arts spaces that focus on opera performances.
At present, there are still many new performing arts spaces in Shanghai that are in the embryonic or growth stages. In this city where "theater is everywhere, art is available to everyone", everyone is staging their own wonderful, and they are eager to get the comfort of the heart and the development of thinking in the encounter with art.