Small stage, big role

Penghao Theater is an active player in the thriving scene of small-theater productions in Beijing. Many of its plays like Broken Shadow are about dashed dreams and aspirations and the conflict between ideals and reality. Photos Provided to China Daily

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Small-theater productions may not command headlines, but they form the most artistically daring and commercially vibrant part of Beijing's theater scene, writes Raymond Zhou.

The crackdown on wasteful government spending has monkey-wrenched the performance market, causing a 20 to 30 percent shrink in its size as large numbers of government-backed shows face the chopping block. But there is a silver lining to this cloud of austerity. Plays (the spoken kind) have seen a 10-percent increase in market share as the upward trend continues in the past year. In Beijing, plays added up to 5,000 to 6,000 performances in 2013. Of this number, 3,600 to 3,700 were presented in small theaters. The genre eluded the bust because audience members paid for their seats, vis-a-vis singing-and-dancing shows that were disproportionately supported by institutional buyers. Better yet, most of these theatergoers come from the enviable demographic ranging from ages 20 to 40.

This is according to the Beijing Small Theater Alliance, which was formed in March 2012. When it comes to the performing arts, Beijing is not just another town in China. It is the equivalent of Broadway in the United States.

Outside of Beijing and Shanghai, the production capacity for plays is very limited, says Mao Xiubing of Dao Strategy, a consulting firm for the culture industry. Some theaters in Wuhan, Hubei province, record an average of 30 shows a year, and Hangzhou in Zhejiang province has an annual total of 600 shows, of which roughly half are touring productions originating in Beijing, he says.

Small theater was not found in China until 1982 with Absolute Signal, a play written by Gao Xing-jian and directed by Lin Zhaohua. It was produced by the Beijing People's Art Theater, which is a bulwark of traditional aesthetics.

Even though these State-owned organizations have built small venues as part of their performance complexes, the bulk of the city's small theaters-or rather, the productions that rent these intimate spaces-belong to private organizations with no government subsidy and little access to funds or grants.