"Wu'an Ancient Town" is a nickname for netizens around Wukang Road and Anfu Road. The Y-shaped intersection at the junction of Anfu Road and Wukang Road is jokingly called "the lively collection of our village entrance" - this location is the Marionba Cafe that appeared in "Love Myth" but is now closed.
"Wu'an Ancient Town" and Sinan Mansion Block are the "only two" in Shanghai to be selected into the honorary list of the first batch of 54 national-level tourism and leisure blocks in China. This area, if you add an infrared sensing function to the map - the largest crowd in addition to the Wukang Building, is the entrance to the Drama Center at No. 288 Anfu Road.
Picture: Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center at 288 Anfu Road Official picture (the same below)
What determines the temperament of Anfu Road is actually mainly based on the drama center - not only because their drama building has three theaters and stages different styles of plays every night, but also because they own some property rights on Anfu Road, such as some maverick furniture design companies, galleries, boutiques... As a result, they have special considerations when choosing tenants. The Drama Center even produced an outdoor immersive drama "19 Wukang Road" for Wukang Road. But Zhang Huiqing, general manager of the Drama Center, recalled: "19 years ago, I came to Anfu Road for an interview, and there was no one on this small road. ”
Photo: Outdoor immersive drama "19 Wukang Road"
One center three theaters
The Drama Building was built as early as 2001, and also made the Shanghai Drama Art Center, which was formed in 1995 by the merger of Shanghai Renyi (founded in 1950) and Shanghai Qingshu (founded in 1957), have a harbor to settle down and stand at the head of the tide. Renyi was the "People's Art Theater" that almost every province and city had at that time, focusing on the serious drama of the grand theater. Nowadays, Beijing Renyi, Shaanxi Renyi and Liaoning Renyi have all launched high-quality works from time to time, which will inspire the deaf and the deaf. The artistic status of Shanghai Qingshu at that time was similar to that of the predecessors of the National Drama Theatre today, the "Central Youth Drama Theatre" and the "Central Experimental Drama Troupe"- a creative group that was boldly explored, innovated and experimented by teachers, students and alumni of the Performance Department and the Directing Department of the Shanghai Theater Academy, and more in line with the international drama trend.
Therefore, the inheritance of both traditional drama and innovative repertoire is that when the Drama Building was completed as early as 2001, there were three theaters - 531 art theaters on the first floor of the standard stage, 232 black boxes on the third floor drama salon, and 247 D6 spaces on the sixth floor. The three repertoire performed on the same night are completely different styles, thus presenting a multicultural and creative quality.
One night thousands of people
Three different styles of drama will attract audiences with different preferences, so they can form a scale effect.
Although, all three theaters were fully occupied, the total number of spectators attracted in one night was 1010. However, they will not only call friends to arrange dinner near Anfu Road, and even share their experience after the performance, plus supper, coffee... Not to mention the fact that strolling around other shops on Anfu Road, Wuyuan Road, Urumqi Road and Wukang Road has led thousands of people to spend cultural dining on Anfu Road every night at the time of the performance - dinner, supper and coffee, as well as bouquets, clothing, books, household items, etc.
Pictured: Many spectators will walk around Anfu Road before and after the performance
Zhang Huiqing revealed that 20 years ago, the slogan of the drama center was "let watching drama become people's way of life", that is, to light up the idea of life with art, so that young people not only came to see the performance, but also came here to spend a beautiful afternoon or even a night. She said: "Creation, taste, art, life, these are the four words that are closely related, and they are also the positioning of Anfu Road. Marionba Cafe and Sun Flour Western Restaurant "grew up with the Drama Center." Many years ago, the Drama Center launched the "Friendship Neighbor Project" - that is, all audiences who hold tickets for the evening's drama can discount their consumption of designated coffee, Western restaurants and so on before the performance. This multi-profit activity continues to this day.
Content output leads the value
Zhang Huiqing admitted that she had also considered setting up a "theater line" to lay out several theaters in other areas of Shanghai and output management models, but the problem she recently considered was "how to break through offline barriers to expand brand influence" - "in this era of decentralization, how to maintain brand influence." She concluded, "We don't want a few more theaters to make shells, but to take 288 Anfu Road as the matrix, export values, and serve more people with high-quality content, covering more audiences." ”
Pictured: Zhang Huiqing
The financial statements of the 2021 Drama Center show that its revenue, profit and total revenue have reached a new historical peak. The data revealed by the Shanghai Performance Industry Association in 2021 also shows that the performing arts market is also rising against the market and returning to the level of 2019. Musicals, talk shows, script killings, etc. that have emerged in the new space of acting have become the new favorites of young audiences. "We must pay special attention to the market and not only the market theory, what fire to do is contrary to the mission of the state-owned theater group, or we must strive to be the leader of values and aesthetics", Zhang Huiqing said: "We will also grow up with the audience who watched 'white-collar drama' and is now a parent." If it is a 'performing arts center', it will probably cover all ages. If the drama covers a young and middle-aged audience, we must also go with the flow. ”
Of course, the Drama Center has always focused on cultivating potential young audiences, from the 17 consecutive years of the College Student Drama Festival to the now expanded to the Primary and Secondary School Students Drama Festival, and the "50 More Wonderful" - half-price drama tickets sold a year or even half a year in advance, which is also a favor for the student audience. Therefore, even during the overhaul in 2017, Anfu Road is still popular: "Here, everyone has feelings and a sense of belonging." ”
When culture nourishes the neighborhood, a cultural landmark is integrated into the life of the neighborhood, and nature has a heavy bond with people's emotions... (Xinmin Evening News reporter Zhu Guang)