"Stay away from shoddy movies and experience the beauty of little theater" has now become the norm for young urban professionals and college students. Pang Su'er is a sophomore of Chinese language and literature at the Capital Normal University and works in her spare time as an on-campus ticket agent for the Fengchao Theater. She told us that almost all the universities and colleges in Beijing have ticket agents like her. "Large campuses like Peking, Tsinghua and Beijing Normal universities have a great demand for this avant-garde theater tickets. When Meng Jinghui's Lian'ai de Xiniu (Rhinoceros in Love) was on show, the tickets that my theater set aside for the student body were gone by midday. Nowadays, scalpers are a common sight in front of the theaters, but in the past to scalp a little theater was simply unthinkable," she remarks. Her immediate reason for working as a ticket agent is that she can watch plays free. She boasted excitedly that she had watched over 40 little theater productions this way.

As more and more people patronize these little theaters, audiences have begun setting up posting boards online for plays they are interested in. Song Qingnan, a graduate of the acting program from the Beijing Film Academy, started performing with the Xixiaotang Troupe in 2006. After each performance he enjoys logging into such boards to browse the discussions. "The postings talk about both the plays and the acting, and very often their opinions are penetrating," he says.

Dream Stage

Because of its low cost and risk, little theater has become a stage for many who cherish theatrical dreams. As the general manager of the Oriental Avant-Garde Theater, Fu Weibo has made his theater the most successful of the kind in Beijing. "Now theatrical schools and programs graduate throngs of acting students every year, but only a small number of them can make their way on to the big stage. So many resort to littler theaters to experiment with their theatrical ideas and realize their theatrical dreams through financial support from their family and friends," says Fu Weibo.

Fu believes that through this experimental stage, a little play can grow into a classic production and acting greenhorns can become great stars. "For the 3,200 performances of 2009, young actors and actresses made up 95 percent of the cast. Film stars like Deng Chao and Tang Wei were all active in little theater productions when they were in school," asserts Fu.

Song Qingnan felt lucky that he could join Xixiaotang upon graduation. "The littler theater has provided me a stage," he beams. "I don't make a lot of money, but I'm happy here and have accumulated precious experience and matured a lot in my acting skills through performing."

Huang Ying, an avant-garde director likened to a "potential stock" by the theatrical circles, also cherishes a particular affection for little theaters. "For a director, the size of the stage or production make no difference. You must pay the same level of attention to every detail – the acting rhythm, stage art, and lighting," he explains. He disagrees to distinguish the big theater as highbrow and the little theater as lowbrow. "The difference is just that the little theater faces a different audience base and has a different style," he says, adding, "The little theater has a particular advantage for both the audience and the acting crew, for it is much easier to generate an interactive effect between the audience and performers."