Miniature drama program puts ordinary people in the spotlight

Ti Gong

In a regular theater-going experience, we enter the theater and wait for the start, see the lighting dim and curtain rise. We then weep, laugh, ponder and applaud as the characters come to life, then after the curtain draws to a close, we leave with satisfaction from the performance we have witnessed.

"But why should the audience be a number in a dark cave?" asked Jiang Tao, a professor of performing and directing for 25 years with the Shanghai Theater Academy, which has two of its campuses in Minhang District.

"Why should the audience be fixed on a numbered seat for two hours? I've been working hard and exploring for about two decades on changing this. Everybody is the major role in their own life, so our theater space can be diverse and changed to adapt for this."

In the ongoing Pujiang River Festival, which will end on July 7, Jiang and his team have adapted "Red Rose and White Rose," a novella by legendary Shanghai writer Eileen Zhang (1920-1995) to become a Miniature Drama Karaoke, at the Forest Performing Art Center in Minhang's Pujiang Country Park. Zhang's novella is a story of love, family, betrayal and middle-aged crisis.

In his Miniature Drama Karaoke program, Jiang recruited ordinary people for the cast and crew: two coaches teach a group of acting laymen and after about two hours, they create a drama clip that lasts for three to five minutes.

"We have our theater box, and in each box, we have prepared the script, the tools, the costumes, the rehearsal procedures, the setting requirements and everything," Jiang explained.

Jiang and his team have seen almost all the performers, regardless of their age and gender, enjoyed their time. In one session, a family of seven took part.

"It was the first time we had a large family as our actors and actresses. The granny gave a stunning performance. She chose the Shanghai dialect to portray her role – mother of the male protagonist who juggles his wife and mistress.

"Even when she was scolding her 'son,' she delivered the lines very properly. In the end, when we were recommending our best actress, everybody put the trophy flower in front of the granny. She was super pleased as it was her first time to receive so many flowers from so many people," Jiang said.

He explained the reason for the popularity of the drama karaoke might come from primeval human beings who, when still living in caves, danced, sang and performed with a priest or sorcerer. At that time, nobody stood apart as an audience to watch others.

"Later as labor diversified, some 'cavemen' became professional hunters and some turned into professional actors. So today, why not everybody once again play their roles?" Jiang said.

Jiang started his research on environmental theater and the relationship between actors and the audience in his graduate thesis in 2000.

In 2020, Jiang's immersive theater play "The Peach Blossom That Year" was unveiled in the Longhua Martyrs' Cemetery. One year later, another of his immersive theater plays, "The Gunfire on Sinan Road," invited audience members to join in with some plot construction.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdown experience were a final catalyst for Jiang to put his idea of Miniature Drama Karaoke into practice.

"Human beings are social creatures that require emotional exchanges," he said. "Family, school and even prison bond us. Overseas, people socialize in bars, and in China, the tea houses have a similar function where people chat, show their pet birds, and play go or chess. But still deep emotional exchanges are lacking. The Miniature Drama Karaoke might be such a vent."

"Humanity longs for acknowledgement and applause. But the majority of us have few chances to stage a performance or deliver a speech, or win applause afterwards. In our Miniature Drama Karaoke, people answer a curtain call like real actors do. They receive applause and flowers," Jiang said. "It is more about social psychology than about performing arts."

There were a mother and daughter who took part who impressed Jiang strongly.

"The mother was accompanied by her daughter for the event. She was a very traditional elderly Chinese lady," Jiang recalled. "She was depressed, for her husband had just passed away."

"The play we had adapted for our Miniature Drama Karaoke was "Betrayal" by UK playwright Harold Pinter. The mother played the role of the mother and she played it well. The daughter said she rarely saw her mother so happy, especially after her father passed away.

Jiang and team are working on a list of new plays such as "The Dream of the Red Chamber," "The Little Prince" and "Counselling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure."

The new theater entertainment might also inject vitality into tourism and help drama school graduates find new jobs or career paths, he hoped.