Teens' theater festival focuses on the vitality of youth
Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center kicked off the 3rd Shanghai Teenagers Theater Festival this week with an opening ceremony presented by primary and middle school students.
Running until December 5, this year's festival is themed "Interest in art is burning, teenagers are forging ahead." It aims to show the vitality of youth as well as carry forward traditional Chinese virtues.
The 3rd Shanghai Teenagers Theater Festival opens at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center.
The festival received applications from 58 schools in the Yangtze River Delta region. Among them, 13 primary schools, 21 middle schools and 15 high schools qualified for the final contest.
Most drama works are original, covering topics such as family relationships and school life after new policies were introduced to ease students' burdens. The entries also feature plays adapted from both Chinese and foreign classics.
The jury includes directors of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center Guo Hongbo and Gao Kun, and actors Wang Yinan, Xu Rongzhen, Xu Shengnan and Zhao Haitao.
As part of the festival, 147 out of 647 teenagers from local schools were chosen to be director assistants, hosts, actors, poster designers, volunteers and members of a stage design workshop in October, which allowed the students to get a glimpse of work experience at a theater.
A forum about aesthetics education will be held on November 28 at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center.
