On the afternoon of 28 October, the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) carried out the study activities of its Party Committee’s central group at its former site at Hengbangqiao and the Longhua Martyrs Cemetery. STA leaders Xie Wei, Huang Changyong, Hu Min, Zhou Yin’e and Zhang Weiling, as well as heads of functional offices such as the Party Committee’s Office/President’s Office, Publicity Department and Planning Office and heads of some colleges and departments, attended the study activities.
At STA’s Former Site in Hengbangqiao
On the eve of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Shanghai Theatre Academy, the study group visited STA’s former site at Hengbangqiao, North Sichuan Road for a study visit tracing back to the educational philosophy and original aspiration for education of the older generation of artists and educators. This site at Hengbangqiao was the location of Shanghai Municipal Experimental Drama School, the precursor of Shanghai Theatre Academy, and is now the location of Experimental Middle School attached to Hongkou District Institute of Education. The study group visited of the teaching building, classroom, office, theater etc at that time. The school has created a strong drama atmosphere in the whole campus, which has a subtle influence on the cultivation of students' drama literacy.
After the visit, the study group came to the theater on the fourth floor and watched a short film made by the Experimental Middle School attached to Hongkou District Institute of Education. Professor Rong Guangrun, Former President of STA, and Xiong Mengchu, the grandson of Xiong Foxi, the late Former President of STA, and a teacher of the Musicals Center of STA’s Acting Department, to act in the film. The short film showed the history and current presence of Shanghai Municipal Experimental Drama School, and vividly reproduced late Former President Xiong Foxi’s noble moral demeanor as a teacher and his loving care for students as if they were his own children.
Quan Xun, Principle of the Experimental Middle School attached to Hongkou District Institute of Education, introduced the school's scale and teaching management to the visitors from STA. Xie Wei, Party Secretary of STA, said that it was of great significance for us to return to the starting point at Hengbangqiao just before the 75th anniversary of STA, and that that there were many similarities in art education between the two institutions, whether it was from a historical view or from a realistic perspective. He hoped that the cooperation between the two institutions could be further strengthened.
At Longhua Martyr's Cemetery
The group then arrived at the Longhua Martyrs Cemetery (Longhua Martyrs Memorial Hall) to observe and study, pay tribute to the revolutionary martyrs and listen to a special lesson. All crew members of the drama "Outpost" also participated in the study. It is reported that the crew members of drama "Outpost" has set up a temporary Party branch on 28 October. As a major literary and artistic creation project of Shanghai Theatre Academy to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the large-scale original drama "Outpost", which will be staged in the Experimental Theatre of Shanghai Theatre Academy on 7 February 2021, is based on five young writers among the 24 martyrs who were killed at Longhua to eulogize their heroic spirit of self sacrifice for revolution.
At the Longhua Martyrs Cemetery (Longhua Martyrs Memorial Hall), all members of the study group cherished the memory of the martyrs with incomparable reverence, looked back on history, and carried out a meaningful "four histories" education and study activity. In particular, the memorial hall used multimedia drama and dance to vividly show the heroic deeds of martyrs and the scenes of their death, which was very impressive. Subsequently, Xue Feng, Director of the Shanghai Longhua Martyrs Cemetery and Curator of the Longhua Martyrs Memorial Hall, gave a theme party lesson entitled "Loyalty, Struggle, Sacrifice" for the members of the joint study group. Huang Changyong, Deputy Party Secretary and President of STA, and Xie Wei, Party Secretary of STA, spoke at the event.
