Setting the stage for future talent

Fu Yixuan, secretary-general of the China Theatre Association, recalls some of his best days in college and his experience of producing plays in a school theater.

"Scripts, makeup, stage sets, music and lighting, we did everything together in the school theater, which was so much fun. I didn't realize how much I enjoyed it until I actually participated in working on each play," recalls Fu, who majored in journalism in college.

"I remember that I made lots of mistakes during the performances, and I even had to improvise onstage because I was too nervous to remember my lines," he says. "Now, though, I have watched many theatrical productions thanks to my job, I still feel excited and intrigued whenever I watch plays by young students, which remind me of my own time in the school theater."

Fu shared the memories of his school theater at the Beijing People's Art Theatre on Tuesday, during the opening ceremony of the New Era International Showcase of Campus Theatre.

The event opened with a play, titled Those Who Survived, staged by the Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Romania, and the Radu Stanca National Theatre.

From Wednesday to Saturday, five productions by students from China and abroad are being staged at the theater of the Central Academy of Drama and the theater of the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, both in Beijing.

"Young students from different schools and countries gather together to stage their own works and communicate. They are young, passionate and dedicated to theater," says Fu.