Ifeng.com Hubei and the Propaganda Department of the Jiang'an District Committee of the Communist Party of China created a series of promotional content called "Old Hankou, New Jiangan", focusing on the Hankou Historic Area, the main site for urban renewal work in Jiang'an District, and showing the region's splendor and transformation. As the saying goes, "Goods come to Hankou for live action, plays come to Hankou for entertainment", the business card of Wuhan's "Performance Wharf" is deeply rooted in people's hearts. The eighth issue of "Charm" goes to Jiang'an Performing Arts Market to explore the new ecology of performing arts, and let's experience the "Performance Wharf" in the context of the new era. "Vigorous vitality and transformative development.
Jiang'an is a place for "drama". Looking at the territory of Hankou's historical area, we can see that it has a rich cultural heritage of opera and performing arts.
Jiang'an is one of the areas with the highest concentration of theaters and theater troupes in Wuhan. These places have created basic conditions for the prosperity and development of the performing arts market. More and more citizens and tourists are leaving their homes to gain cultural experiences in old buildings and popular business districts.
While a group of fans from the Tianle Club were enjoying tea and listening to music in the crosstalk teahouse that exuded the scent of tea, a hilarious "Heart-stealing Dinner Party" was being staged at the Happy Mahua Jiqing Theater. At the other end of the city, the Zhiyin cruise ship set sail at Jiangtan Pier, and citizens and tourists boarded the cruise ship to travel through a century of time; in the small theater of Wuhan Chu Theater Chu Le Theater, classic Chu operas were sung... On the river bank, whether it was Whether it is a new small theater or a traditional old stage, the audience can have fun.
"2023 is a 'performance year' for us. We will complete a series of 180 performances to benefit the people, and serve nearly 50 million audiences online and offline." According to Han Xiao, Party Secretary and Chairman of Wuhan Chu Theater, Jiang'an has rich historical and cultural resources and a unique old Hankou life atmosphere. There are many red cultural venues and cultural and art academies, and the artistic atmosphere is rich.
At the Wuhan Chu Theater, classic operas such as the modern Chu opera "Xiang Jingyu", the newly edited Chu opera "Yang Naiwu", and the honest Chu opera "Cow Examination" are taking turns to be performed. Han Xiao believes that it is necessary to give full play to the interconnection between red venues, historical neighborhoods and professional academies, make full use of regional advantages, and jointly create works that reflect the cultural temperament of Jiang'an. "More and more young audiences should enter the theater, and the scene will be close to Feel the charm of the traditional opera stage from a distance."
It is not just the Wuhan Chu Theater. In 2023, the attendance rate of Wuhan Theater, Zhongnan Theater and other theaters will continue to rise, and the scale and quality of cultural and artistic activities, performing arts will increase rapidly.
If the large theater is the "basic base" of Xi Pier, then various small theaters and new spaces have created a new path among young people with their various performance forms.
"Ao Mansion Birthday Banquet, please go to the third floor!" As the first themed experiential stage play created by Happy Mahua in Wuhan, "Heart-stealing Dinner" is a stage everywhere, and every audience member is a guest at the banquet, and there will be special events as well. The identity changes according to the plot.
According to Zhang Qian, director of operations of Wuhan Happy Twist Culture Media Co., Ltd., "The Heart-stealing Dinner" innovatively introduces elements such as interaction and food, and every show will be a surprise for repeat viewers.
"Today's young audiences are no longer satisfied with just sitting in the audience, but participating on the stage with the actors." Wu Qi is the first signed artist of Happy Twist in Wuhan. He believes that this is the advantage of small theaters where actors can join in improvisational performances.
In terms of pursuing immersion, "The Dinner Party" is not an isolated case. With the rapid development of new performing arts spaces, the popularity of these highly interactive new formats is also continuing to rise.
"With the rise of 'improvisational tourism' derived from special forces tourism and the craze of 'city walk', 'traveling immersive tourism' is becoming increasingly popular, and the more interactive and experiential 'walk and watch' viewing form has gradually become New trend." According to Woody, the person in charge of Zhiyinhao brand promotion of Wuhan Chaozong Cultural Tourism Co., Ltd., since its performance, "Zhiyinhao" has performed more than 1,930 times and received more than 1.2 million tourists. Zhiyinhao has also been exploring more possibilities. In terms of derivative industries, it plans to use the "Zhiyinhao" during the day to build a "Time Wharf" living museum on the river.
Wuhan Theater’s environmentally staged musical "Lighthouse" set off a craze for immersive performances in Jiangcheng, with more than 220 commercial performances. The newly launched immersive mystery musical "Novel" has also exceeded 50 commercial performances. Wuhan Song and Dance Theater's environmentally staged musical "Worship the Wind" wowed the social media with its poetry and romance.
As the performance market continues to boom, whether it is drama, musical, stage play, concert, opera, cross talk, talk show... young people are more willing to pay for products that can provide emotional value, and more and more people will Consumption in search of “spiritual resonance”.
Dinner Comedy, founded in 2017, is the first Chinese talk show club in Wuhan that focuses on stand-up comedy. It has theaters in Jiang'an Pinghe Packaging Factory and Yifang Shopping Center. After more than seven years of development, it has held more than a thousand comedy performances of various types, bringing laughter to more than 100,000 audiences.
Tianleshe Tea House also brings together a group of cross talk enthusiasts who "just have fun with pictures". The actors on the stage talk, learn, sing and sing freely, and their fresh and funny tricks make the audience laugh.
It is understood that Tianle Club actors have business indicators for rehearsing new works every month. While maintaining the advantages of traditional cross talk, they also adapt and create new works, making it easier for the audience to accept and appreciate the artistic charm of traditional cross talk.
When more and more people travel to a city for a performance, the performing arts economy has become a new engine to drive urban consumption. But if we want to truly achieve the goal of prospering the performing arts market, we need more market-oriented works.
In this regard, Wuhan Theater drama producer Li Zhuoyu also conveyed an expectation: New performance spaces and new formats that emphasize immersion and interaction will not only bring increases in box office and number of performances to Jiang'an, but will also promote performances. The industry continues to integrate with script killing, escape room, bar and other formats, broadening the dimension of the performance industry and promoting innovative development of performance projects.
Nowadays, the "Play Pier" is taking on a new look, integrating the theater into urban life and lighting up the cultural window of the city. The river bank has a lot to do!
(Source: Jiang'an District Financial Media Center)
[Editor: Yao Hao]
[Source: Jiang'an District Financial Media Center]
