Phantom below the stage

To ordinary audience members at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), it's easy to assume that a mysterious phantom of the opera lurks beneath the stage and brings the magic of performance to life. Thornfield Hall, the stately manor featured in the stage adaptation of classic English novel Jane Eyre, rises in all its glory in front of the self-titled protagonist and male romantic lead, Edward Rochester. The couple embrace, slowly rotating on a revolving stage to complement the lustful mood, as props seamlessly appear for the next scene. Stage effects play as important a role as characters, says Xu Qi, vice director of NCPA's theater technology department and the "phantom" behind the dazzling theatrics. Xu spends most of her time below the 15x9 meter stage, away from the spotlight and inquisitive eyes of the audience in the 1,000-seat theater. All the walls are blanketed with soft, flowing silk, but Xu denies this is what makes the theater "grand." To her, the highlight of the theater isn't its impressive size nor delicate decoration. Rather, it's the cutting-edge stage technology that most people don't know about.

"This is one of the world's only stages that has both revolving and elevating mechanisms," Xu proudly boasts. Not only can the stage rise and rotate as a whole, it's also divided into 15 sections that can each move independently and at varying speeds.

These functions are operated on separate systems. The revolving function is driven by an electromotor, while raising and lowering of the stage is performed using a hydraulic system. "We are the only theater in China using a hydraulic system to raise and lower its stage and among few in the world with such technology," said Xu. The 10,000-liter hydraulic system, engineered in and imported from Germany, is located 24 meters beneath the stage and can raise almost five tons.

The hydraulic system's giant pillars, like massive metal arms, raise and lower the stage, while its pipelines flow with oil, like blood running through muscular veins. Frank Bottling, NCPA's theater technology engineer and an engineer from Bosch Group-Rexroth, manufacturer of NCPA's hydraulic stage system, said hydraulic revolving stage system represents state-of-the-art stagecraft. "Hydraulic power systems have a better response time than electrical variants.

They react immediately when you start operating," said Bottling.

Xu listed the technology's price tag at 200 million yuan ($31.7 million). Despite its hefty cost, she believes it's worth every penny. Bottling, a veteran who has worked in theaters around the world, agrees, saying it puts the NCPA in a league of its own. "No other theater has the same facilities that offer both rotation and elevation of the stage," he notes.

For Xu, the only shame is that more plays cannot make full use of the NCPA's theater.

"Our theater is still in its infancy, but it has some of the world's best stage facilities. We have the ability to make playwrights and directors' dreams come true on stage," she said.