On October 12th, the 2024 Shenyang Arts Season kicked off its Youth Drama section at the Shenyang Times Theatre, organized by the Shenyang Municipal Bureau of Culture, Tourism, and Radio and Television.
This year, the Youth Drama segment features six carefully selected small theatre productions from across the country. Among the highlights are “Piao Piao’s Youth,” a realism play performed in the Wuhan dialect, “The Wedding Can’t Stop,” a vibrant urban comic drama crafted by a team of professional writers, young directors, and university students, and “Have You Seen My Cat?”—an engaging piece by a renowned folk theatre troupe from Lingnan centered on a cat. Additionally, there is a blend of stand-up comedy and improvisational performances from Shenyang’s comedy scene, as well as a new interpretation of Tian Han’s work titled “Suzhou Night Talk” from Tianjin. The lineup also includes the acclaimed “Cangxin Road No. 5,” a production that has evolved over a decade within a state-owned professional theatre group.
The opening performance, “Piao Piao’s Youth,” captures the audience’s attention with its unique regional style and relatable storytelling. This play offers a vivid portrayal of a young urbanite’s journey, delivering an experience that is at once “absurd yet real.” The 2024 Shenyang Arts Season’s Youth Drama section aspires to showcase the youthful spirit of Chinese theatre, energizing the stage in Shenyang and encouraging drama to become a vital part of the city’s youth culture.
It’s worth noting that the Youth Drama section is one of the main activities of the 2024 Shenyang Arts Season, with five additional productions slated to perform from October 13th to 19th at the Shenyang Shengjing Grand Theatre and the No. 6 Warehouse Times Theatre.
