Taking Drama Online

by Heidi Gong

On April 22， 2020， two days after Ying Drama Studio issued a recruitment announcement for its inaugural online drama class， the studio expanded the class size from 50 to 1，000. By the end of June， three series of streamed classes had drawn thousands of students.

Drama director Wang Xiaoying， a founder of Ying Drama Studio and lecturer of its first online drama class， has always sought ways to bring drama to more people. The class combined video and livestreaming to enhance interaction and encouraged participants to engage in deep discussions online.

Since the 1980s， Wang has directed dozens of dramatic classics in China and beyond， injecting them with his own singular interpretations. The theme of the early lessons was “A good drama is a lab for human nature，” a philosophy Wang has promoted for years. He has prying into human nature through productions such as Blind City， adapted from Portuguese writer José Saramagos novel Blindness， and The Orphan of Zhao， a famous Chinese historical work. Through practice on the internet， Wang has updated his ideas about technology and hopes to use it to explore new possibilities for drama.

China Pictorial： As stage art， drama traditionally places great focus on face-toface communication. How has “cloud teaching” worked for you？

Wang Xiaoying： When I first started looking into a camera instead of the faces of students and lecturing to empty seats， indeed， I had to overcome huge psychological discomfort. But this forced trial ending up with thousands of viewers was tremendously encouraging. I gradually recognized that the appeal of drama is not confined to the stage. We can employ online platforms to transcend time and space to share plays and spread ideas.

China Pictorial： You have directed many Chinese and foreign classics. Why did you choose Blind City as the first topic to discuss in the online class？

Wang Xiaoying： History is always surprisingly familiar. The drama Blind City was inspired by Blindness， one of the most renowned novels by Portuguese author José Saramago， which I read during the 2003 outbreak of SARS in Beijing. The novel revolves around an unexplained mass epidemic of blindness afflicting nearly everyone in a city. The heroine in the play witnesses the distortion of human nature and the collapse of social order caused by sudden blindness.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has caused a far greater impact than SARS did， but thankfully we are hearing more inner reflections and rational voices than we did during the SARS outbreak.

The epidemic is a special situation and an event worthy of in-depth study in dramatic laboratories. I hope to guide the audience to appreciate the most valuable things found in the drama. I want to show everyone that drama can be a human nature laboratory. In the theater， you can feel and think about emotions and ideas that may not ever be perceived in daily life. Exploring them can facilitate deeper thinking and understanding of human nature.

China Pictorial： You have summarized two of your methods for creation： injecting Chinese narratives into foreign dramas and digging into Chinese classics. What are the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western dramas？ How do you envision the future development of Ying Drama Studio after the epidemic？

Wang Xiaoying： From a narrative point of view， Chinese and Western dramas take different paths to arrive at the same destination. The major difference is that Chinese dramas pay more attention to peoples reflection and contemplation on reality. Western dramas focus on human nature and soul searching when facing dilemmas and reflect on the power of human nature.

Although physical theaters can never be completely replaced， the development of online activities is a necessary promotion and extension of offline works to some extent. Our online class will continue to invite more famous drama masters to teach and participate. In the future， I am sure we will find even more diverse and flexible ways to communicate with the audience. Ying Drama Studio will continue exploring creative practices to enrich avenues of drama exchange and development.