Chinese theater in spotlight(2)

The Midsummer Night's Dream from Global Theater. [Photo provided to China Daily]

It is not that Chinese artists haven't experimented with classics or staged non-narrative works. Directors such as Lin Zhaohua and Meng Jinghui thrive on their unconventional approaches. But it's different when foreign directors widely recognized as geniuses brought their works here.

In Chinese minds, respect for the text is sacred and a more or less lucid narrative unfolding on stage is expected. In other words, the "subversive" works from other countries challenged the Chinese aesthetics of both staging and accepting theatrical works.

However, the strict demand by foreign artists is seen as positive on changing the laissez-faire atmosphere of theater attendance in China, illustrated by late arrivals and a hall dotted with lit screens as many in the audience play with personal gadgets midway through the show.

On top of that, some touring programs were palpably misaligned with their Chinese viewership.

For example, Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Sound of Music, while touring China, attracted a predominant clientele of children, so whenever the kids-friendly parts of the musical were absent the hall would be filled with squirms and chatters of the very young who were probably unable to read the title translation.

The ripples of the controversy won't be felt instantly throughout the theater scene. Much of China's commercial theater is far from avant-garde or experimental. If anything, it is geared toward comedy. Because China doesn't have a mature market for musical comedy, standup clubs or sketch comedy, the need for laughter tends to be channeled into live theaters.

Of the three biggest markets for stage entertainment, i.e. Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, 15 percent of the residents have been exposed to comedy, making up for 40 percent of those who go to plays.

The latest available figures show that in 2013, there were 11,200 performances of plays nationwide, accounting for 15 percent of all live shows. The total box-office tally was 1.594 billion yuan ($257 million) and the average ticket price was 252 yuan.

Occasionally, the more dramatic stories happened offstage.

In April, Jin Han, an actor with The Beijing People's Art Theater, was stabbed when he literally went to rescue a damsel in distress in a dark alley. The real-life hero, though wounded, was back onstage shortly afterward.

Later in the year, the same company was threatened with a lawsuit when it presented Citizen, based on the story of China's last emperor. It adopted the version of a biographer, which His Majesty's descendents claimed to be inaccurate.

An apt coda to 2014 in Chinese theater may be Lisa Lu's year-end appearance in Stan Lai's eight-hour epic, A Dream Like a Dream. Lu played the role in a 2005 Taipei production, and now, aged 88, she commands the stage by her crowning silvery glory alone.

Theater in China is very old, yet it is energized every year.