What do audiences see in a theater? In addition to the core content of the performance, the answer is very diverse. During the Chinese New Year, Beijing's large and small theaters have shown all kinds of activities, exhibitions, non-heritage experiences, popular workshops, and multi-faceted art experiences, which not only attract many viewers but also show the cultural functions of theaters in city life.
Exciting activities on and off the stage
In the Spring Festival, many audiences coincidentally find that the excitement is not only between the big curtains of the stage but also off the stage when they walk into the theater.
Six classic plays including "Lady General Mu Takes Command" have been performed in the National Center for the Performance Arts. From the moment of the ticket check-in, the characters of plays stepped out on the stage in each space of the theater, and a section of the Peking Opera Flash Mob encountered with the audience, which fully showed the beauty of the national art form;
The Beijing Performance Arts Center was decorated with posters of the word "Chun"(the same meaning as the word "spring") with musical notes and the Year of the Dragon, and the flexible chamber music repertoire floated in the public area; Zhongshan Park Concert Hall supported the topography of woodblock prints stalls; Beijing People's Art Theater held the online and offline exhibitions to commemorate the 125th anniversary of Lau Shaw's birth……
According to statistics, during the Spring Festival holiday, Beijing's 97 theaters attracted a total of about 310,000 spectators. The constant flow of people, the rich and festive flavor of the New Year, and the integration of traditional and modern expression have made the major theaters a bright cultural landscape in the city.
Exploring multiple businesses becomes a new trend in theaters
Nowadays, in addition to the sale of coffee and other cultural and creative products, it has become an obvious new trend that new forms of business and new scenes have been explored to revitalize the use of theater space.
In 2023, the performing arts service platform built by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism announced the new year's funding programs and the category of performing arts space cultivation appeared on the list for the first time as a new category. The first batch of 15 spaces to be supported that develop performing arts as their main business and actively explore the integration of multiple business modes is the first time that financial support has been given to performing arts spaces at the municipal level.
Many attempts have been made, for example, on the second anniversary of its reopening, the Jixiang Grand Theatre formally joined the New Film Association Cinema Chian through the renovation of its facilities, recapturing the old memories of the film screenings in the past years; and the Nanluo Theatre continued to make full use of the peripheral space of the theatre after the launch of the "BISFF Beijing International Short Film Exhibition", so as to let the series of exhibitions be held on the ground.
The Beijing Performance Arts Center, which was officially opened to the public at the end of last year, has put forward the concept of "all-space management". This year, from the second day to the 16th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, 12 chamber music performances for the public good, as well as opera-themed workshops, creative percussion workshops, and other art popularization activities are being staged in all corners of the city.
At Beijing People's Art Theatre, many audiences met with various surprises. During the Spring Festival, it also launched the fashionable activities of collecting badges and cards, mailing postcards, etc., which led to the number of visitors increasing nearly three times compared with the same period.
The modern theater is like the city's "living room"
The core of a theater is a performance, but it can't just be a performance. Modern theater embodies the culture and spirit of the city, creating the experiences that can truly carry the theater as an important part of the cultural high ground.
Now, more and more theaters have begun to consciously change their thinking, design novel decorations and all kinds of activities, and try a variety of business scenes. As a "performance arts +" complex, the theater should be the first to do a good job around the performance of the planning, publicity, and services. And other daily arrangements for the theater can increase the added value of the theater so that it glows with a lasting attraction.
Translator: BAI Jing
Reviewer: ZHANG Bo
