2 January 2020
On the last day of 2019, 27 students from the Drama Club of the Student Union of the University of Macau and the Frost Ice Snow Creative and Experimental Troupe visited the Huashan Road Campus of the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA), accompanied by the relevant officials of the Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Overseas Chinese Affairs Committee of the CPPCC Jing’an District Committee. Yang Yang, Vice President of STA, and the relevant heads of STA’s Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office and United Front Work Department, as well as some teachers and students from the Tibetan Class of STA’s Department of Acting, participated in the reception and exchange activities.
2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland. Students from the University of Macau went to Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Beijing, Shanghai and a number of cities in Zhejiang Province where they gave a total of 33 touring performances of their original play After the Bitter Comes the Sweet. In the exchange with the teachers and students of STA, they said that the original aspiration of creating the play was their feeling about the saying A country will prosper only when its youth thrive, and a country will be strong only when its youth are strong. They felt that the youth in this era should have responsibility, discipline and sense of historical mission. As a member of the Chinese nation, the youth in Macao should firmly support the policy of “one country two systems”, and should spread Chinese culture through drama, attract young people through artistic activities, and promote exchanges between the youth in Macao and the youth in the Mainland.
The students from Macau also had in-depth exchanges with the teachers and students of STA on matters in relation to teaching and artistic creation. The head of the drama club introduced the operation of the drama club and the basic situation of the local performing arts market in Macao. The leading actor and actress of the play After the Bitter Comes the Sweet performed the highlights of the play, and another student affectionately sang the interlude song of the play. The students of STA’s Tibetan Class also introduced the teaching and performance situations of STA’s Department of Acting to the students from Macao, and showed their strong skills and abilities in lines and singing.
Finally, Zhang Yunlei, Director of STA’s Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office, took the students from Macao for a tour of the STA Huashan Road Campus, and encouraged them to apply to study the various majors at STA or actively participate in various exchange activities. It is hoped that the students in Macau can become an important member of the extended STA family to jointly promote the artistic and cultural exchanges among the youth on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and in the three regions of Hong Kong, Macau and the Mainland, and carry forward the policy of “one country two systems”.
