Small-theater players hatch big ideas

Numerous activities

For directors, scriptwriters, set designers and performers, small theaters provide a platform to experiment with new ideas and technology.

This year, the small-theater scene in China celebrates its 40th anniversary, with numerous activities being held in Beijing, including photo exhibitions, workshops and forums.

These events recount the history of small theater by referring to one play in particular, Absolute Signal, directed by Lin Zhaohua, which is widely considered to be the nation's first small-theater production.

The play premiered in 1982 and was produced by Beijing People's Art Theatre, which was founded in 1952. Renowned playwright Cao Yu (1910-96) was the venue's founding member and first president.

Beijing People's Art Theatre is considered the flagship for Chinese drama. Many of the plays the venue has staged, such as Teahouse, adapted from the work by Lao She, and Thunderstorm, written by Cao Yu, are classic Chinese theatrical productions. The venue's motto, "A play is bigger than the sky" is printed on a huge banner hanging on a wall of the rehearsal room.

Absolute Signal marked a breakthrough for the established theater.

The idea for the production came when Lin, a young director, decided to stage a new play. He wanted to do something different from the traditional dramas the venue had staged previously.

Lin, who was born in Tianjin and graduated from the Central Academy of Drama in 1961, gathered the cast members together, brainstorming ideas and performing improvised acting in an abandoned train carriage in Beijing in 1982. The story of Absolute Signal unfolds in a railway setting.

The play centers on five characters－the train captain and his young trainee, a robber and two passengers－an unemployed young man and a young woman who keeps bees.

Lin, now 86, said in an earlier interview: "It was a humid summer. We went on lots of train journeys, especially at night. It was so quiet inside and outside the carriage, making the rumbling of the engine particularly clear. We talked, smoked cigarettes and drank tea together. We had great moments that were full of creative thinking."

In August 1982, Absolute Signal premiered in a small rehearsal room at Beijing People's Art Theatre. The stage set was simple－comprising just a few boxes and steel frames－and the room was packed with audience members, who were captivated by a pioneering artistic style they had never seen before. The play's creativity also had a lasting influence on the performers.

Veteran actor Feng Yuanzheng, who watched the premiere, said: "When the actress walked down from the stage and started to speak her lines, I felt my heartbeat accelerate. She was standing right next to me, which was a new experience for me in the theater."

Feng said he cried when the actor playing the jobless young man spoke of his problems and worries.

"I was in the same position as him, having no work and feeling depressed about my future," said Feng, who had just quit his job as a factory worker and was hoping to become an actor, which he subsequently succeeded in doing with Beijing People's Art Theatre in 1985.

Cao Yu, the then-president of Beijing People's Art Theatre, wrote to Lin, congratulating him on the success of Absolute Signal.

"We need plays with different artistic styles. For theater, we should never stop pushing the boundaries to create new works for audiences," Cao wrote in his letter.

After Absolute Signal, Beijing People's Art Theatre staged numerous small-theater productions, launching its own small theater in 1995 near Capital Theater, its home.