With the conclusion of the ninth season of BBC's high-energy suspense drama "Secret Number 9", this classic British drama series that has accompanied the audience for ten years has officially concluded its final season. Recently, the show's "soul creators" - the British "genius duo" Reese Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton - embarked on their first trip to China to review and exchange creative experiences over the past ten years with Chinese audiences. We also visited the Shanghai Grand Theater's "No. 9 Space" to experience the immersive suspense theater "Secret of No. 9" and check out the world's first offline performance version of the British drama IP.
Since its launch in Shanghai at the end of last year, the immersive suspense theater "Secret No. 9" has gained excellent market reputation and box office results. The arrival of the two British drama creators has led to a new round of viewing of the show upsurge. As one of the benchmark plays created by Damai's "Of course there is drama", the success of the immersive suspense theater "Secret No. 9" not only means that the label continues to deepen its efforts in drama content construction, but also further boosts the label's international IP creation Acceleration on the track.
According to reports, the immersive suspense theater "Secret Number 9" is adapted from the British dark comedy of the same name that is popular around the world. As one of the British BBC's flagship dramas, "Number 9" was co-created by Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton and presented by a group of outstanding actors. From its launch in 2014 to the official conclusion of its final season recently, it has maintained a high reputation all the way through ten years, nine seasons, and fifty-five episodes of mind-blowing twists and turns and unique British black humor, and has become a globally popular TV show. It is a popular "super drama" and has accumulated a large number of loyal audiences in China.
In 2023, under the authorization of BBC Studios in the UK, Damai's "Of course there is a play", the Shanghai Grand Theater Creation Center and Zhejiang Dafeng Culture jointly created the immersive suspense theater "Secret No. 9", which is also the basis for "Secret No. 9" The world's first offline performance version. In order to retain the temperament of the original series to the greatest extent, the show invited director Zhao Miao and his "Santuoqi Theater Company" to be creative and creative, and selected "No. 9 Surprise House", "No. 9 Apartment", "No. 9 Moon" "Taiwan" is a dramatic presentation of three unit stories full of suspense and reversals, with the original screenwriters and starring actors Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton serving as script supervisors. Not only that, in order to bring an immersive performance experience to the audience, the Shanghai Grand Theater also renovated the new box theater on the fifth floor, specially creating a "No. 9 space" unique to this show. Since its opening at the Shanghai Grand Theater on December 27, 2023, the play has been performed more than 160 times, ranking first among the box office performances of Shanghai small theaters in the first half of 2024.
After experiencing the immersive theater "Secret No. 9" at the Shanghai Grand Theater, the two British drama creators were excited and surprised. They even joined the cast in the encore of the show and danced the classic song from "Crazy City" During the dance "Superman" (another classic TV series created by the two creators), the atmosphere was extremely lively. The two even bluntly stated that they "liked the modification of the Chinese version", fully affirming Immersive Theater's grasp of the essence of the play and its imaginative local adaptation.
In addition to speaking highly of the play, the two creators also left many traces and clues at the performance, and invited more audiences to explore the Sardine Wardrobe and unlock a new interpretation of the classic story. It is reported that after the series has officially concluded, Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton are currently working on the British version of "Secret Number 9", which is expected to be staged in London's West End in January next year.
In addition to the recognition of immersive theater by the creators of British dramas and the continued popularity of the drama, it is also worth paying attention to the story behind "Of Course" being the first to introduce "Secret No. 9" to the Chinese drama market. As we all know, the UK is a country with a long history of drama and profound drama culture. At the same time, the two main creators of the British drama "Secret Number 9" themselves also come from the drama industry.Against this background, the industry and audiences will undoubtedly be curious as to why "Of course there is a show" as a new Chinese drama team can get the world's first offline performance version of this gold medal British drama from BBC Studios and the original creator. The development authorization, and how the two teams collaborated during the creation process to ensure the ultimate success of the work.
It is understood that this is inseparable from the keen insight into the market of "Of course there is a drama", the creative drama design of Zhao Miao and his "Santuoqi Theater Company", as well as the open attitude and rigorous supervision of the British drama creators. The joint efforts of many parties have achieved the linkage between cross-border film and television works and live performances, and made this close and efficient international cooperation a successful model worth learning from.
While based on the original classic script, the producers and creative team's wide-ranging imagination, rich and bold creativity, and innovation in the viewing mode also make the play different from other dramas on the market and become a unique immersive suspense in China. theater. According to reports, the immersive theater "Secret No. 9" presents a total of three stories, corresponding to three independent drama spaces, with different viewing methods. Director Zhao Miao said: "Different from other immersive dramas, we have made a lot of innovations in the viewing mode this time. First of all, we emphasize the immersion in the physical space. This immersion is not only reflected in the scenery, but also in the performance mode." Let the audience be "wrapped" in a certain symbolic space. The audience will experience different directional perspectives when watching the performance from different positions. The reason why we want to present it this way is because in the early stages of creation, we will put each one into perspective. The space of the story is imagined as the externalization or transformation of the protagonist's inner world. The audience is both the character itself and a voyeur from a certain angle. Then, relying on the actors' performance and the creation of the overall atmosphere, the audience can truly enter into the world during the performance. The storyline and the inner time and space of the protagonist achieve emotional and ideological resonance. "
In addition, on the premise of ensuring the brand tone and being loyal to the original work, the two British drama creators also gave this drama a great creative space. and multi-dimensional support. Producer Huang Yun said: "The two main creators participated in the entire process of supervising the script of the performance, and provided sentence-by-sentence comments and suggestions for the local adaptation of the script, especially in terms of replacing British references with Chinese references. In this regard, At the same time, they have a very open attitude towards the Chinese creators’ spatial conception, interactive design, stage visuals, etc. This also enables our final performance to be as faithful to the original work as possible in terms of content, while also having sufficient presentation. At the same time, the BBC also gave us many bonus points, such as more than 50 posters corresponding to more than 50 independent episodes of British dramas provided by the British side. These materials have never been released in China before. They are currently on display in our performance space for theater fans to check in, which has also helped us build a real 'Universe 9'. Overall, during the cooperation process, both parties have achieved full mutual respect and respect. Efficient collaboration."
Li Jing, the manager of Damai's "Of course there is drama" said: "International IP creation is one of the important content directions of 'Of course there is drama'. We not only need to introduce excellent overseas scripts and IP, but also It will fully combine China's localized creative concepts and the increasingly younger market characteristics to create a novel theatrical experience for the audience. According to Li Jing, following the immersive suspense theater "Secret No. 9" and the new stage play " Magic Moment ". Later, the label's latest drama "Mozart" based on overseas classic IP is currently under intensive preparation and is expected to be released to the audience within the year.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Guo Jia
Editor/Cui Wei
