Curtain up for scene of enthusiasm

Wang Jiaqi and Zhang Yuyan may come from diverse backgrounds but they have one thing in common: their absolute love and passion for theater which leads them to binge-watch plays.

Two months ago, Wang, 21, a college student, traveled to Shanghai to watch four plays over a weekend. Such a tight schedule has been routine for her, and it is also becoming increasingly common in the lives of many theater lovers.

Her schedule is almost military in its precision. Wang, a clinical medicine student from Xiamen University, Fujian province, usually takes an overnight high-speed train to Shanghai on Friday evening, arrives at a youth hostel near People's Square on Saturday morning, watches one play in the afternoon and another in the evening, and repeats the feat on Sunday. On Monday, she takes an early flight back to Xiamen.

As she often travels to Shanghai, by air or by railway, she says that she "could even walk from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station to People's Square with my eyes closed".

The area around Shanghai's People's Square is home to more than 70 theaters, including theater spaces in such well-known venues as the Asia Building, Shanghai Dashijie (the Great World), and Shanghai Cultural Square.

She doesn't just watch the plays. After each performance, she always waits at the stage door, where actors enter and exit the theater, to interact with the professionals.

To cut costs, she sometimes sleeps on a seat at the Haidilao hotpot restaurant on Sunday nights, which is open all night, to wait for her flight. "The waiters at the restaurant all know me well now, and sometimes they even take me to a dimly lit area in the eatery, so I can rest more comfortably," she adds.

Wang is one of many theatergoers crowding the theaters around People's Square during weekends or short holidays. "Watch as much as you can" has become the motto for these theater lovers while in Shanghai.

Zhang, 22, is another theater enthusiast. After graduating from a Beijing university this summer and moving back to her hometown of Changzhou in Jiangsu province, she found that the short one-hour train ride from her city to Shanghai has made her play-watching binge more affordable.

In less than six months after settling down in her hometown, she had made seven trips to Shanghai for her "theater binge".Actually before graduation, her play-watching schedule was even busier.