Sparking youthful passion for the stage

The latest statistics from the Shanghai Drama Art Center show that those aged 0-29 make up 41.72 percent of its audience, while those aged 30-39 account for 33.96 percent.

Chen addressed the importance of young audiences and how they perceive theater. After visiting various countries, watching plays, and communicating with local theater practitioners, Chen has found a particularly important phenomenon in China that she "greatly appreciates".

"In all the places I've worked around the world, nowhere else have I encountered as many young people in theaters as in China," she said. "Especially in Europe, theater audiences tend to be older. Also, in Latin America or Africa, the younger generation seems to be losing interest in theater."

Ramendu Majumdar from Bangladesh, honorary president of ITI, said that "taking theater into schools is a very good idea" in terms of increasing the appeal of theater to the younger generation.

World Theater Day invited three children's and school theater groups to present their works and to have workshops with international experts.

The Qfun Children's Experimental Theater Troupe is mainly made up of primary school students. After staging a short play, the French musician and director Matthew Rauchvarger led them into an instrumental and choral practice, encouraging them to improvise within theatrical games.

The Golden Sail Art Troupe originated from the campus drama club of the Beijing Haidian District Teacher Continuing Education School. In 2012, the school became the "Theater Education Base" of the Beijing People's Art Theater, receiving coaching and training from this top theater group in China. On March 28, the students performed a show titled Xianheng Hotel, which features characters from the works of Chinese writer Lun Xun (1881-1936), including Sister Xianglin, Kong Yiji, and Run Tu. A director, a lighting designer, and a stage manager from the Beijing People's Art Theater accompanied the students in creating and rehearsing this performance.

Jiang Xiao, in his second year of high school, played Xunge'er in the show. Before this, he had never seen a play or even a scene, knowing nothing about theater.

"It's not that I wasn't interested, but rather that I never had the opportunity to be exposed to it," he said. "But now, as a performer, not just an audience member, I have the chance to be the center of attention, to be myself and yet someone else, and to feel the character's emotional journey from a century ago. Where else could I find this kind of experience if not in the theater?"

Akosua Abdallah, president of the Ghana Center of ITI and a specialist in theater education, emphasized the positive impact of theater on the younger generation.