Beijing, March 27, 1961 (Reporter Yuan Xiuyue) On March 27, 1961, the International Theatre Association officially established World Theatre Day, with the intention of arousing the attention of the people of the world to the art of theatre. Every year on this day, theatres around the world hold events to commemorate the occasion, and the International Theatre Association invites a person from the theatre industry to write a speech.
"Drama has a noble role, it can inspire and mobilize mankind to get rid of the fall of sliding into the abyss, it can prop up the stage and the performance venue, and turn the theater into a temple!" In his 2020 speech, Shahid Nadim, a prominent Pakistani playwright and head of the Ahoka Theatre, highlighted the spiritual experience that theatre people can offer their audiences.
He argues that in today's world, where bigotry, hatred, and violence are escalating, and the planet is sinking deeper and deeper into climate catastrophe, this is when we need to replenish our spiritual strength.
Image source: Chinese Dramatists Association
The speech for World Theatre Day 2021 was written by internationally renowned actress Helen Millen, a well-known British stage and film actress who won two Best Actress Awards, the Lawrence Olivier Award and the Tony Award for Best Actress for playing the role of Queen Elizabeth II in the stage play "The Queen's Call". In addition, she has won the Best Actress award at the 79th Academy Awards for her wonderful performance in the movie "Queen", and has won several awards at the Cannes International Film Festival, the Golden Globe Award and other international film festivals.
In her speech, she mentioned the challenges faced by the theater industry due to the epidemic and the exploration of dramatists. She writes: "These are extremely difficult times for theatre art. Many performance teams and production team practitioners are struggling to support the industry that is already full of uneasiness and variables. But perhaps it is this constant uneasiness and uncertainty that can inspire their wisdom and courage to face the epidemic and tide over the difficulties. In this new normal, their imaginations have been transformed into creative, pleasing and touching ways of communicating. Of course, this is also largely due to the Internet.
Throughout the ages, human beings have told each other's stories all the time. As long as human beings exist, the beautiful theatrical art will not die. Writers, designers, dancers, singers, actors, performers and directors can never be stifled. In the near future, this creative desire will burst out like a dead wood in the spring, once again bursting with new vitality to reinterpret this world that shares solidarity with human beings. I think this day is just around the corner! ”
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Since last year, China's performance industry has also experienced a process from shutdown to recovery. In March 2020 alone, nearly 8,000 performances in more than 20 provinces and cities across the country were cancelled or postponed, and the direct box office loss in March exceeded 1 billion yuan. Many troupes and performance companies have moved their performances online, and online reading scripts, online performances, and online concerts have been welcomed by the audience, bringing new changes to the theater industry.
On May 12, the Department of Market Management of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the Guidelines for Epidemic Prevention and Control Measures for the Reopening of Theaters and Other Performance Venues, and the restart of the performance industry officially kicked off. In mid-June, the Shaanxi Renyi version of the drama "White Deer Plain" opened its first performance in Nanjing in 2020. Before the opening, all the audience "palm lights" together to light up the light of the theater. Theaters in many places have reopened their doors to welcome guests, such as "Theatre Stage", "Sleepless Night", dance drama "Eternal Electric Wave", etc., and art festivals such as Nanjing Drama Festival and Guangzhou Arts Festival have also restarted.
Data chart: The actors of Fujian Fanghuayue Theater performed the classic Yue opera folding zi opera through the "Cloud Theater" in the concert hall of Fujian Grand Theatre. Photo by Lu Ming, reporter of China News Service
Theater attendance rose to 50% in August and continued to rise to 75% in September. By national day, China's performance industry is rejuvenated. According to statistics released by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, as of the National Day holiday in 2020, a total of 1162 theaters have been opened nationwide, accounting for 53.87% of the total. According to reports, there were more than 4,000 offline professional performances during the National Day in 2020, and the supply of various performances increased steadily, of which the music festival grew the fastest, with an increase of 130% over the same period last year.
Infographic: The Poly Theater is open to spectators
In January this year, the domestic multi-point epidemic outbreak, the recovering performance industry ushered in a new round of challenges, the nationwide professional theater in January performances cancelled or postponed nearly 1,000 times.
However, the China Performance Industry Association issued a document saying that the industry has been mentally prepared to deal with the epidemic, and the current domestic vaccine research and development and vaccination are active and effective, in the face of this round of epidemic, the performance industry is actively making timely adjustments. The industry judged that the serious impact on the performance industry as in early 2020 would not appear again. "Everything is recovering, it's just a matter of time." Some insiders said.
On March 15, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a notice stating that in low-risk areas of the epidemic, the proportion of consumers received by performance venues such as theaters, Online service venues, and entertainment venues will no longer be uniformly restricted, and the party committees and governments of each province (autonomous region and municipality) will control the epidemic prevention and control situation according to the local epidemic prevention and control situation. To hold large-scale commercial performance activities, it is necessary to strengthen communication and coordination with public security and other departments, and appropriately control the scale of the number of people in accordance with local epidemic prevention and control requirements. This means that the 75% attendance limit of performance venues has been lifted, and large-scale performance activities are expected to return.
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"Deling and Cixi", performed at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, became the first play to be 100% open for sale. The show's producers said that opening up attendance is a huge encouragement to the industry. Now that attendance is back and spring is coming at the same time, it's a good thing, after all.
The reporter of China News Network noted that many theaters and performance institutions have begun to take positive actions. At present, many popular plays have resumed performances or set performance schedules, including "Broken Gold", "Dream like a Dream", "The Count of Monte Cristo", "Fragrant Mountain Night", "White Deer Plain", "Cow Heavenly Gift", "Sunrise", "No One Survives" and so on.
Theater practitioners began to get busy again, "two plays start at the same time, which should be the happiest thing in the performance industry under the epidemic", some insiders said. (End)
Source: China News Network