26 March 2018
On the evening of 23 March, co-organized by the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA) and the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, the premiere of “Qiu Peiran”, a master’s series campus drama based on the prototype of Mr Qiu Peiran who was a dedicated doctor and the recipient of China’s first "Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine" title was held at the Yihai Theatre. This was another campus drama of the master’s series that STA has produced with the guidance and support of the Shanghai CPC Working Committee for Education and Public Health and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission since STA started undertaking the “Salute to Masters – Master’s Series Campus Drama” support program, a culture-education integration project of Shanghai.
"Qiu Peiran" is written by Mr Huang Xi of STA’s Department Dramatic Literature and directed by Mr Xu Jian, who is a teacher at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts and an alumnus of STA. A number of alumni of STA participated in the production and performance of the play. The play is based on the prototype of Mr Qiu Peiran, a master of Chinese traditional medicine and tells the stories of Mr Qiu as a doctor, a scholar, a teacher and a person. It reflects the fine sincerity, great kindheartedness and great goodness of a traditional Chinese medicine giant.
The theatre was a full house on the night of the performance. Over 400 people watched the premiere, including Mr Gao Deyi, Deputy Secretary of the Shanghai CPC Working Committee for Education and Public Health and Deputy Director-General of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Ms Hu Min, Vice Chairman of STA, family members of Mr Qiu Peiran, Mr Cao Xikang, Chairman of the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and teachers and students. The performance was warmly received. In the recent years, relying on the STA Campus Drama Text Incubation Centre, Professor Lu Jun at the Department of Dramatic Literature who is the leader of STA’s dramaturgy discipline and other experts such as Mr Sun Zuping, Mr Sun Huizhu, Mr Yao Kougen and Mr Huang Xi have led the postgraduate students to participate directly in creation of the scripts for 12 plays about the masters. Many of these plays, after being localized, have become the “first lesson” for the new students upon commencement of their university study, thus becoming a powerful carrier of the ideological and political work of the universities. To date, nine plays of the master’s series have been produced through the support of the Master’s Series Campus Drama Playwriting Support Program, which are “Qian Xuesen” of the Shanghai Jiaotong University, “Wang Zhenyi” of the Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, "Qian Baojun" of the Donghua University, “Pan Xulun” of the Shanghai Lixin University of Accounting and Finance, “Liu Zhaneng” of the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, “Qiu Peiran” of the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, “He Luting” of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, "Liao Shicheng" of the Shanghai Normal University, and “Cai Yunlong” of the Shanghai University of Sport (to be staged soon). In the recent years, the master’s series has had more than 60 performances with a total audience of more than 70,000 person/times. For example, “Qian Xuesen” had more than 30 tour performances not only going beyond the university campuses into the society but traveling to other cities as far as Beijing, Wuhan and Chongqing etc as well as winning the Gold Award of the China Campus Theatre Festival. “He Luting” went overseas and was the opening performance at the European Youth Opera Festival held in Hungary with tens of thousand of audience, warm on-site atmosphere and positive social impact. At present, performing master’s series plays and watching master’s series plays have become a beautiful cultural landscape in universities in Shanghai.
In 2018, having completed the process of application, assessment and listing approval, another three master’s series productions will be supported, featuring Mr Jiang Chunfang, founding president of the Shanghai International Studies University, Mr Lei Jingtian, former president f the East China University of Politics and Law, and Mr Zhu Yanding, former president of the Shanghai Maritime University respectively. At the same time, the tour performances of some of the mature plays and the incubation of a number of scripts for the master’s series plays will be carried out. With the care and guidance of the Shanghai CPC Working Committee for Education and Public Health, STA will actively carry out the work of professional support, overall planning and coordination and promote the flourishing development of the master’s series campus drama program.
