The opening ceremony of the 2023 International Master Class on Directing (Active Analysis) of the Shanghai Theatre Academy was held its opening ceremony in the square in front of the Foxi Building on the morning of 8 May. Xie Wei, Party Secretary of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Zhang Yunlei, Director of the Shanghai Theatre Academy International Exchange Centre, Tobias Biancone, Director General of the International Theatre Institute, Professor Vladimir Baicher, the instructor of this year’s master class, and leaders, teachers and students of the Directing Department, as well as students of the master class, attended the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony was presided over by Yang Yang, Vice President of the Shanghai Theatre Academy.
Firstly, Professor Lu Ang, the project leader of the International Master Class on Directing, on behalf of the Shanghai Theatre Academy Directing Department being the organizer of the program, warmly welcomed and thanked the leaders, guests and students for their presence, and briefly introduced the situation of the master class. Since 2009, the Shanghai Theatre Academy has successfully held 13 international master classes on directing, inviting over 90 internationally renowned directors and professors from over 30 countries on 5 continents in the world to come to teach, give lectures and hold workshops in China. At the time of sever COVID-19 pandemic, the Director Department overcame many difficulties and held the Master Class on Directing (Cross Taiwan Strait) and the Master Class on Directing (Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) in succession, as the online Master Class on Directing (Mainland China).
Compared to the past, there have been new changes since this year’s master class. Starting from this year, the International Master Class on Directing will not pursue quantity, but will conduct in-depth and systematic learning of one method in the form of special topics every year. This year, Professor Vladimir Baicher, the former Head of the Department of Directing at The Russian Institute of Theatre Arts, was invited to give topical lectures on Active Analysis method of the Stanislavski system of Russia.
Subsequently, Professor Baicher, the instructor for this year’s master class, gave a speech. Professor Baicher expressed his gratitude to Mr Tobias Biancone at the International Theatre Institute for his help and support, as well as to the Shanghai Theatre Academy for the invitation. At the same time, he pointed out that in the next one month, he will immerse the students in the development of the Russian genre of directing and acting. As the third generation inheritor of Stanislavski, Professor Baicher hoped to continue carrying forward the Russian genre of directing and acting and the Stanislavski methods.
Li Jinghui, a national first-class actor and winner of the Plum Blossom Award, spoke first as the representative of the master class students. Then, Feng Hanlu spoke as the representative of postgraduate students.
Subsequently, Tobias Biancone, Director-General of the International Theatre Institute, delivered a speech. Finally, Xie Wei, Party Secretary of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, delivered a speech.
The International Master Class on Directing (Active Analysis Method) is jointly sponsored by the Shanghai Theatre Academy and the International Theatre Institute, and organized by the Directing Department at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. The centralized training will be is from 8 May to 2 June. In that duration, the teaching workshops will be held every Monday to Friday, the open class presentations will be held every Friday evening, and the discussion sessions will be held every Saturday morning. On 3 June, the 2023 Shanghai University League’s Forum for International Young Scholars (Directing Art) - International Development and Traditional Exploration of the Director Art will be held.
