24 April 2018
From 11 to 13 April, the newly adapted Peking Opera "Faust" premiered at the Duanjun Theater of the Shanghai Theatre Academy. The theatre was a full house during the three days of performances and a ticket was difficult to get. The leaders of the Shanghai Theatre Academy including President Mr Huang Changyong, Vice Chairman Ms Zhou Yin’e and Vice President Liu Qing attended the performance together with the heads of relevant colleges and departments as well as experts and professors. Mr Tobias Biancone, Director-General of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) and other ITI staff also watched the performance. This graduation production of the Class of 2014 Directing for Chinese Traditional Opera was praised unanimously by all who expressed the deep appreciation for this new Chinese Traditional Opera production featuring Chinese and western integration and youthful vitality.
Since the Directing for Chinese Traditional Opera major was founded in 2002, each year there has been a graduation production created, rehearsed and performed by the students under the guidance of the teachers of the core courses of the major. This teaching project has been held continuous for 16 years, thus making the Directing for Chinese Traditional Opera the only major among all art universities in China that presents a Chinese traditional opera graduation production every year. The successful performance of the graduation production of the Class of 2014 Directing for Chinese Traditional Opera has caused strong positive repercussions inside and outside the university.
The seminar on the creation of this production and the training model for directors of Chinese traditional opera was successfully held on 19 April. The seminar was chaired by Huang Tunwei, Deputy Dean of the College of Chinese Traditional Opera. The graduating students of the Class 2014 Directing for Chinese Traditional Opera shared the experience of graduation creation, and Ms Lu Qiuyan, the instructing teacher, introduced the significance of this production in teaching, creation and research. At the seminar, the leaders and experts put forward constructive suggestions on the creation achievement, modification and improvement, and performance prospects of this production, and discussed the training model for directors of Chinese traditional opera.
