Shanghai's Indie Theatre in the Spotlight

With no money, minimal experience, little space and a lot of passion, Shanghai's independent theatre scene has managed to grow from virtually nothing only a few short years ago, to a grassroots movement that is increasingly professional and starting to be recognised internationally. Some of the driving forces behind the scenes discuss the state of Shanghai's independent theatre, and what needs to happen for our city to become a thriving centre of performing arts.

“It's developed drastically,” Shanghai Repertory Theater (SRT) founder Rosita Janbakhsh says without hesitation when asked about the development of English-language theatre companies in Shanghai over the last three years. In that time, Shanghai's original independent English-language theatre company East West has seen one-time members (including Janbakhsh) branch out and start two other companies to serve the city's English-speaking theatre market, with SRT and 3rd Culture rounding out the current trio.

“I remember when I first got to Shanghai, you really had to struggle to find performing art that you could get involved with, even East West at the time was a hell of a lot smaller than it is now,” Janbakhsh explains. “I think it is a healthy development and, as an artist, we all have things we are most interested in and I think that has moulded these three groups to have such diverse roles. At the end of the day, they all want to keep on producing great work and growing creatively.”

Similarly, the last few years have seen growth in local Chinese independent theatre in Shanghai, with around 20 companies launching between 2007 and 2010. One of these companies is LANDSTAGING, co-founded in 2009 by Zang Ning Bei, a playwright, director and teacher at the Shanghai Theater Academy who returned to Shanghai five years ago after studying drama in Edinburgh.

Despite what he describes as obvious growth in the amount of independent theatre available in Shanghai, Zang describes three major challenges to the survival of performing arts that aren't sponsored by the state.

“First, we don't have any funds from the government for independent artists or theatre companies. The second challenge is that the members don't have any funds, which makes it difficult for them to make a living and have time for rehearsal or performance,” he says. “And the third issue is space. We only have one space for rehearsal and training – elsewhere the rent is very high which makes it difficult, but we just keep going.”

Zang's play, ‘River!River!River!’, about environmental degradation in China's southwest, has already toured the country and is this month travelling to Japan for the FESTIVAL/Tokyo Performing Arts Festival. This invitation is a rare honour for a contemporary Chinese play, as they are still more likely to embrace traditional Chinese art forms, such as Peking Opera and ballet, rather than modern representations of the country's dramatic theatre.

Janbakhsh and SRT have just returned from a trip to Edinburgh for the city's famous Festival Fringe, where its play Drift was the only contemporary Chinese-made drama on show. 

“I think the next goal for the independents is to be internationally recognised and being invited and embraced on a large scale as something that represents China,” she says. “Being full-on, uniquely contemporary Chinese, whatever that is because I think in many ways it's still developing, and it’s interesting to watch and be a part of.”

But all of this costs money and, in China, the money goes towards state-sponsored theatre companies. In Shanghai, there are four government-sanctioned theatres that are primarily known for turning out an endless parade of ‘white-collar comedies’ – aspirational tales and quaint romances for the upper-middle classes. Not the kind of thing that gets the artistic classes' blood pumping.

Though Janbakhsh and Zang agree that funding is vital for independent theatre companies, they are also wary of the limits on ‘independence’ that is a necessary evil of becoming part of the state arts system in China.

“If you have the sponsorship, you have no freedom, you have to make dramas to help [the government],” Zang says. His primary goal in writing dramas about the environment in China has always been more about educating the masses than pleasing the powerful, and he sees it as his duty as an artist to convey important messages through his work.

“Everybody needs to be educated about the environment. Now we have toured the country and after each show people come up and talk with us and discuss the environment. We aren't in a position to make any decisions, but we can try and help people to find out more about the issue,” Zang explains. “Independent artists always care about humanity, they don't care about money or commercial things. For me, if you don't care about the society, I think the art or drama that is being made has no meaning.”

For Janbakhsh, the answer lies in the development of corporate sponsorships and individual patrons of the arts prepared to back independent performing arts financially – whether or not they stand to see any monetary reward in return.