On 1 December, as one of activities in celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA), the large-scale original drama “Xiong Foxi”, which was created by the teachers and students of STA with a high level of passion and dedication, was successfully staged in the STA Experimental Theatre. On the same day, the Thematic Exhibition on Xiong Foxi and the Foxi Library were officially opened.
4 December coincided with the 120th anniversary of the birth of Xiong Foxi, the late former president of STA. On the same day, led by Tang Litu and Yang Yang, vice presidents of STA, a group of more than 60 people comprising the entire crew of the drama “Xiong Foxi”, heads of relevant functional offices, colleges and departments of STA, as well as experts and scholars from various universities and cultural and art institutions in China, travelled to Fengcheng City of Yichun Municipality in Jiangxi Province, which was the hometown of Mr Xiong Foxi, for participation in a series of activities held locally in commemoration of the 120th anniversary of the birth of Xiong Foxi.
On the two evenings of 4 and 5 December consecutively, the master play “Xiong Foxi” had two public performances in the Fengcheng Cultural Hall. These public performances were broadcast live via the relevant online media platforms, and attracted more than 130,000 online viewers.
On the morning of 5 December, the thematic exhibition entitled "Theatrical Posts – In Commemoration of the 120th Anniversary of the Birth of Xiong Foxi, the Dramatist and Theatre Educator", opened in Fengcheng. Mr Xiong Foxi was a playwright, theorist and theatre educator. He had never left the theatrical posts in his whole life. "Theatrical post" is the true portrayal of Xiong Foxi's devotion to theatre. With the many “theatrical posts” that Xiong Foxi had stuck to in his whole life as the theme and clue, this exhibition took pictures and written materials as the main exhibits, which were supplemented by early publications, restored stage models and other physical exhibits, to show his important achievements in theatre and review his art career in theatre of more than 40 years.
Subsequently, the Academic Seminar in Commemoration of the 120th Anniversary of the Birth of Xiong Foxi” opened, with the joint sponsorship of the Fengcheng City People's Government of Jiangxi Province and the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Nearly 100 experts and scholars from universities, cultural and art institutions and Fengcheng City itself participated in the seminar. This seminar received the active response and strong support of all participating experts, with the submission of more than 60 abstracts and full texts of papers, totaling nearly 300,000 words. Many articles were of innovative value in the theoretical perspectives, research fields and methods. The successful holding of the seminar would definitely promote greater attention to and increased deepening of the studies on Xiong Foxi among the academic circles. At the seminar, the invited experts gave presentations on Mr Xiong Foxi's life stories and works, sharing and appreciating his works and delivering his spirit.
On the morning of 6 December, the STA team that went to Jiangxi Province for performance and exchange also visited Mr Xiong Foxi’s former residence in Guanshan village, Zhangxiang town. The Shanghai Theatre Academy also reached a consensus with the local governments of Yichun Municipality and Fengcheng City on matters of cooperation, including further strengthening art exchanges between STA and Yichun Municipality in the future, giving full play to the name card effect of local celebrities, and boosting the cultural development of STA as well as Fengcheng Municipality and Yichun City.
