Tian Qinxin:Wielding the Power of Drama

In April and June 2024， Dawnon the Su Causeway in Spring ，an original drama written anddirected by Tian Qinxin， arenowned Chinese drama directorand president of the NationalTheatre of China， planned twoperformance runs in Beijing. Withevery performance sold-out， everycurtain call brought the housedown. The ticket quickly becameone of the most sought-after ofthe year.

The drama traces the upsand downs of the legendarylife of Su Dongpo （1037-1101），a renowned writer and poet ofthe Northern Song Dynasty（960-1127）. The play adoptedcross-media fusion technologyand 17 sets of multimedia scrimsthat slowly revealed a stage fullof Song Dynasty charm. It hasbeen considered a successfulexploration and experimentationon Tian’s “Chinese theatreperspective.”

Since her first production，Cutting Wrist in 1997， Tian hasconsciously integrated traditionalChinese aesthetics with moderndrama in search of innovativestage expression. After honingthe script， Dawn on the SuCauseway in Spring radiates thesophistication， boldness， andunrestrained character of SuDongpo. The play conformsto the director’s unique artisticexpression and shows her matureand seasoned exploration，practice， and innovation ofChinese drama.

Tian’s growth has been closelylinked to the spirit of Chinesedrama.

In 1978， nine-year-oldTian was admitted to BeijingArt School to study PekingOpera. She later worked asa professional Peking Operaperformer for several years.As a child， Tian often rode abicycle around Beijing to watchplays， which left her manywarm memories. In 1992， Tianwas admitted to the directingdepartment of the CentralAcademy of Drama. In 1997， hersecond year after graduation，26-year-old Tian independentlydirected the historical dramaCutting Wrist for her debut，demonstrating outstandingabilities with scriptwriting，choreography， and stage control.Zhao Youliang， then presidentof the Central ExperimentalTheatre， was greatly impressedafter watching the play andrecruited her into the theatre tobecome a professional director.

In 1999， the drama TheField of Life and Death ， writtenand directed by Tian Qinxin，premiered in Beijing to criticalacclaim and was regarded as herbreakthrough work. The dramawas adapted from a novel ofthe same name by Xiao Hong（1911-1942）， a famous modernChinese female writer. To adaptthe prose narrative into a dramawith tension and conflict， Tiancollected materials from varioussources and wrote a 16，000-worddirector’s statement. “I am verygrateful to Xiao Hong，” said Tian.“She gave me the confidence topursue a career in drama.”

Tian experienced the periodwhen Chinese drama learnedvarious theatrical trends from theWest and the box office boomed.However， she has always stayedtrue to her original aspirationsfor artistic creation and insistedon “creating dramas with culturalcontent.” For example， the dramaTurmoil ， which premiered in2001， tells the story of Tian Han（1898-1968）， a famous modernChinese playwright. Red Roseand White Rose （2007） was anadaptation of modern Chinesefemale writer Eileen Chang （1920-1995） that subverted the formof the original work withoutdeviating from its spirit. Theseclassic works have been expressedon the stage in an innovative wayso that more people are able tounderstand and appreciate them.

In December 2020， Tianwas appointed president of theNational Theatre of China. Froma literary and artistic worker toa troupe manager， she led thetheatre to take on more culturalresponsibilities and continuouslyenriched and expanded theirinnovative expressions. Underher leadership， the theatre hasstaged excellent realistic workssuch as Gu Wenchang ， usingdramas to convey the strengthand spirit of the nation. Also， thetheatre has cooperated with ChinaCentral Television to creativelycombine theatre with televisionmedia. By boldly using multitemporalstructures on stage， theycreated classic cultural televisionseries such as Stories of Chinaand China in Classics ， helpingtelevision viewers feel as if theywere watching an immersive play.

Tian believes that in today’s eraof technology， drama also needsstrong technical support. In 2023，the National Theatre of Chinareleased the online performancebrand CNT Live （China NationalTheatre Live）， which will useadvanced filming techniques， 5Gtechnology， and virtual reality torecreate the “live” experience.

Tian noted that the NationalTheatre of China is workingon the musical drama Calledby Dunhuang this year， whichwill combine drama with manyDunhuang art elements suchas music， dance， murals， andarchitecture. It is also leveragingultra-high-definition digital audioand video technology as well asstreaming media transmissiontechnologies to produce a “theatre+ film + digital” blockbusterand launch a live broadcast of thedrama in cinemas nationwide，striving to maximize itsinternational influence.

“We must do a good jobof expressing ourselves in theChinese way， so that Chinesedrama can go global and reach awider audience around the world，”said Tian.