Venue hosts dramatic celebration

Zhao Hao, a young father, brought his 4-year-old daughter to the open house. "I am a big fan of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, and I often come to watch its plays, both classic and new," says Zhao. He says he has been watching the theater's plays since he was a university student, and one of his favorites is Teahouse.

"My daughter cannot yet understand the plays, but she loves theater. I hope that, when she grows up, we will come here and watch plays together," he says.

Zhao Xuguang, 20, says he hopes to make a life for himself on the stage.

"I was inspired to become an actor after the performance of Thunderstorm, one of the theater's plays, when I was in high school. Now, I am learning acting at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing. I will apply for the theater's actor training program after I graduate, and hopefully I will become one of the theater's actors one day," Zhao Xuguang says.

Thunderstorm, the classic play written by the theater's first president, Chinese playwright Cao Yu (1910-96), premiered in 1954 and is still performed by the theater.