Chongqing - Chongqing Grand Theatre was brought back to a packed house on February 10 and 11 after two consecutive performances of the dance drama Water Moon Luoshen. As spring approaches, many other excellent plays have been frequently staged in major theaters in Chongqing, creating a surge in audience consumption.

Boosting the confidence of the performance market

After watching The Last Emperor of Southern Tang Dynasty, Chen Sixiao and his friend left the theatre humming the theme song while many other audience members discussed their experiences watching the musical in online fan groups.

According to Li Wenting, deputy director of the dance department at Chongqing Normal University's College of Arts, the pre-Spring Festival is usually the peak performance season. After the Spring Festival, theaters use this time to schedule performances throughout the year or renovate and upgrade their facilities.

However, this year's situation in Chongqing is different as many fine stage productions have been staged after the beginning of spring, such as the 2023 Chongqing New Year Concert, the Moonlight on the Spring River riverside folk music concert, the stage play Chongqing 1949, the acrobatic show Top of the World, and the play Misty Jiangzhou.

"The frequent staging of plays and their reception by the audience demonstrate the public's strong willingness to watch and participate and greatly boosts the confidence of the performance market," Li said.

Immersive experiences await the audience

In addition to large-scale stage performances, some more experimental stage projects are also bathed in the warmth of the rebounding performing arts market. For example, the day before the Lantern Festival, the Chongqing Sichuan Opera Theatre held a special Lantern festival performance in the small theater of the Sichuan opera art center. More than 100 audience members sat around a round table while watching the performance, and the audience could eat snacks and enjoy a bowl of tea.

Chongqing 1949 Grand Theatre has launched a free live-action immersion role-playing game, Please Answer 1949, for the audience. Participants in the role-playing game can interact and communicate with the main actors and review and analyze the characters' stories.

"Audiences who have not seen Chongqing 1949 may feel that there is a very high threshold to enter the theater to see the play. This is a psychological threshold. We have developed several sub-products, including role-playing games, in the hope of lowering this psychological threshold and bringing the audience an immersive theater-going experience," said Zhou Huifang, deputy general manager of Chongqing 1949 Performing Arts and Culture Company.

A prosperous future for Chongqing's performing arts

"The schedule is very tight in the first half of the year, which is even tighter in the second half," said He Wen, general manager of Chongqing Grand Theatre. Many traditional plays like The Peony Pavilion will be staged for the audience in some theaters in Chongqing in March.

At the same time, local theater companies in Chongqing are also actively rehearsing their productions to prepare for the next national tour. 

"Audiences are now fond of performance-centered experiences, which require not only more frequent performances but also a focus on the content," said Cheng Lianqun, president of the Chongqing Dramatists Association.

Tang Zhu, deputy director of the art department of Chongqing Municipal Commission of Culture and Tourism Development, emphasized the need to tap into the supply-side potential of the performing arts market to meet the audience's growing demand for high-quality performances. He also suggested that promoting the urban performing arts gathering area could further stimulate the industry's development by creating a clustering effect. 

 (He Hanyue, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)