Master’s Perspective: What Can Drama Bring to Teenagers?

The first Beijing Youth Eclectic Drama Festival was recently concluded. For the first time ever, the stage was moved to a forest camping site. All tents are moving stages where actors and audience are immersed in the interwoven world of drama and nature, feeling and absorbing the power of drama. What is also unique is that all the crew on and off the stage during this festival are taken by teenagers including directors, scriptwriters, choreographers, actors, and stage managers. The festival aims to help youth open up new drama experiences through project-based learning, give full play to their initiative, guide them to experience the wonder of life outside the classroom and textbooks, and help them learn and explore their own talents and abilities.

The Eclectic Drama Festival aims to accompany young people to complete original dramas written, directed, and performed by themselves, and feel the power of drama. Therefore, Peking Youth Eclectic Drama Festival invited Jiao Gang, a famous director from China Children's Art Theatre, and Zhou Ling, a national first-class actor, as art consultants, to personally guide the rehearsals and help teenagers realize their drama dreams. They can have a free creative platform in their most imaginative and creative life stage.

There are many activities at the Eclectic Drama Festival. Apart from the immersive drama The Little Prince and nine English monologues, teenagers also set up games, art exhibitions, design workshops, peripheral product fairs, etc., creating a diverse drama experience of watching, participating, and communicating, so that more young people can truly engage in the drama and make it part of their lives.

What can drama bring to teenagers? The young organizers of this Eclectic Drama Festival offered their answers, making us feel their self-growth through drama creation. Zhou Yanming (16 years old), the chief planner of the drama festival, the director and scriptwriter of The Little Prince, says, "Drama is power, and it makes me have a very firm goal and keep going. It is the source of my strength." Li Yixuan (18 years old), director and host of the drama festival, thinks of this activity as a wonderful experience. "When acting, I can forget who I am and immerse myself in another world to experience a different life." Wang Zhige (12 years old), the main actor of The Little Prince and the peripheral product designer, believes that "drama is something worth diving into, and when you are done with one play, you can make significant progress.”