Shanghai's Laurence Olivier Awards announce winners
The 25th Zuolin Dramatic Arts Awards winners were announced at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center on Wednesday.
The 25th Zuolin Dramatic Arts Awards were announced at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center on Wednesday.
The awards, which were established in 1996, are seen as the Shanghai version of the prestigious Laurence Olivier Awards. It's named after drama maestro Huang Zuolin (1906-1994).
The former Chinese film director dedicated his life to drama, and his lifelong ambition was to open a Shanghai theater devoted to dramatic art.
Huang died in 1994, at the age of 88, and was unable to witness the establishment of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center in 2000.
The awards promote Huang's spirit of "becoming a sincere artist who devotes his life to the cause of drama with a pure heart, without seeking fame or profit."
The Best Actress Award goes to Qian Fang (center).
The Best Actor Award has been given to Chen Shan (center).
Chen Shan and Qian Fang were named best actor and actress, respectively. Fu Chong was named best supporting actor, while Ding Meiting was named best supporting actress.
He Mengjie received the Most Promising Artist Award. The Excellent Talent Contract Awards were given to He Ping, Liu Peng and Liu Xuanrui.
The Zuolin Dramatic Arts Awards have returned to the center after a four-year absence. Many theatergoers gathered outside the center hours before the ceremony began to await the announcement of the awards.
There were a lot of theater fans waiting outside the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center hours before the ceremony began.
"Before 1995, I performed at Shanghai People's Art Theater, one of the predecessors of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, for about 15 years. And it was a very beautiful time for me," said the renowned actress and the award presenter, Xi Meijuan.
"For me, coming back to the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center is like coming home."
Other award presenters included famous actors Chen Qi, Zhang Xianheng, Xu Zheng and Lei Jiayin.
"For the young generation of stage actors like me, the Zuolin Dramatic Arts Awards are a dock, a station, a warm place to rest temporarily and look back on oneself, and even more so, the courage to start again, motivating us to create more and better works," said Chen, who won the Best Actor Award for his role as Jia Baoyu in the play "A Dream of Red Mansions."
