A brand new theatre from renowned playwright and director Stan Lai is opening this weekend - in a Xujiahui shopping mall. Lai is hoping that the new space, entitled Theatre Above, will revolutionise theatre in Shanghai.
Taking over a large swathe of the fifth floor of the Metro City mall - that one with the giant light up globe on the front - Theatre Above will present all of its productions with English subtitles, according to Lai. ‘We want the foreign community to support theatre,’ he says. ‘This can create a fundamental change in the way people approach culture.’
The theatre will show worthy plays from other playwrights, but core programming will come from Lai’s Shanghai Performance Workshop, with around 200 performances a year. Their ambitious opening season presents six shows running from December to January.
The new, 700-seater venue is set to open this weekend with a performance of Lai's Sand and a Distant Star, which will star Cheng Peipei, best known for her role as Jade Fox in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
For more details on the production and full interviews with Lai and Cheng, click 'Read more' below.
