Original title: Telling the moving story of the city through drama
At the end of June this year, Beijing Dahua City Performing Arts Center started trial operation. The predecessor of Dahua City Performing Arts Center was Dahua Cinema, which was built in 1926. It has a long history of nearly a hundred years and is a cultural landmark in the hearts of many Beijingers. Today, the reconstructed “Dahua” is no longer a single cultural venue, but a building with an opera hall, a theater, a ring theater, an experimental theater, a sky theater, a concert hall, 6 performance spaces, more than 10 rehearsal halls, a A new comprehensive art institution with a cafe, a drama bar, several cultural and creative spaces, and multiple public art spaces.
How can art be deeply connected with a city and its citizens? Beijing is a vibrant city, and the Dahua City Performing Arts Center is located in the center of Beijing. It is also home to many theaters and theaters, and the artistic atmosphere is particularly strong. To name Dahua as an urban performing arts center is to build an art venue that fits the urban temperament, provides more choices for the audience, and injects new artistic vitality into the city.
One of the characteristics of urban theatre is that it is easy for the audience to get close. Dahua City Performing Arts Center does not have a long front hall passage, and the door is a bustling street. The theater facing the street can bring the audience closer to the theater. People walking on the street can walk into the space created by the theater with one step. After the performance, people can step out of the dream-like theater once more. to the mundane and busy daily life. It’s an amazing experience for creators and viewers alike. In addition to the performance space, the theater also has cafes, lounges and restaurants. The audience can have a leisurely cup of coffee and a meal before watching the performance. When the bell rings for the first time, they can walk into the theater without a hurry. .
Not only that, the contracted actors who cooperate with Dahua must abide by a unique rule. After the performance every night, they must stay to chat with the audience, listen to feedback, and talk regarding their feelings. There is no fixed closing time for the theater, and the lights are turned off following the last spectator is gone. We don’t want the audience to buy a ticket and go following the show, but to continue talking and thinking. In this way, art can truly be integrated into the lives of the public, and drama can better connect with the audience.
The charm of drama lies in its ability to show the world in a square inch. Each performance space in the Dahua City Performing Arts Center is not large. We hope that people who are in it can feel that art is not far away and make art a way of life. The big theater and the small theater are like a street where there are both Manchu and Han banquets that can entertain guests and friends, and small restaurants that satisfy the taste buds every day, each with its own meaning and needs. The performance of the small theater is more focused on the individual, telling the story of each individual well, but also the story of the people.
“International expression of Chinese stories, world classic Chinese expression”, this is the artistic concept of Dahua City Performing Arts Center. In the future, Yuan Zaju, Tang Xianzu’s “The Peony Pavilion”, and the Complete Works of Shakespeare’s plays will all be staged here, bringing spiritual enrichment to the audience through art. As a theater named following “city”, Dahua City Performing Arts Center hopes to use real works of art to communicate with citizens, communicate with the market, and have a dialogue with this lovely city. A moving story of the city.
（Yi Liming,Dean of Beijing Dahua City Performing Arts Center, interviewed by reporter Cao Xuemeng)
