A scene from Our Middle Summer Night's Dream, written and directed by Jin Shifei, is performed by students from Tsinghua University. (Photo by Wen Ya/provided to China Daily)
Before Jin graduated from Tsinghua University in 2013 with a master's degree in computer science and technology, he worked on 18 plays along with other club members, focusing on several different subjects, such as environment protection and campus love stories.
"Campus dramas are the future of Chinese theater. The drama club, which is a form of art education, nourishes students' interest in drama and offers them opportunities to perform onstage, to express their thinking, to enlighten both themselves and the audience," says Jin, who recently gave a speech at a theater forum in Beijing.
He says original works best showcase the talents of amateur actors, scriptwriters and directors. In June, Jin will lead students of Tsinghua University to participate in the original script writing competition held by Mai-Drama, a theater-promotion company that sponsored the forum.
Born in Wuhan, Hubei province, Jin formerly was a math teacher at a training school in Beijing. In 2016, he directed the original drama Lost and Found, which was performed and produced by Tsinghua University students; it won the top award at that year's Gold Hedgehog College Students' Theater Festival held in Beijing. The award gave Jin confidence to work as a director. This year, he also starts working with Wuzhen Theater Festival, a major annual event launched in 2013.
Fan Xinying, the manager of Beijing Nine Theater, who helped launch the annual Gold Hedgehog College Students' Theater Festival since 2001, says more than 1,300 drama clubs from over 1,100 universities across China had participated in the theater festival until 2016.
