With the availability of the little theater, even ordinary citizens can live the fabulous dream of becoming a big entertainment star. In November 2009, the Nine Theater in Beijing's Chaoyang District opened a little theater especially for non-professional theater lovers. A few friends can come together, produce a small play and put it on stage.

A Sizable Market

As more and more investors direct their attention toward this market, the number of little theaters has increased year by year. Statistics show that in 2009 more than 10 new venues came into being, such as Fanxing Theatrical Village, Fenglan International Little Theater, Fengshang Theater, Fangjia Lane Courtyard 46, and BTV Grand Theater. But not all of them are as lucky as the Oriental Avant-Garde, which has a lavish schedule. Some endure constant slack periods when they have to accommodate conferences and meetings for survival. Last year the Moshan Theater only had some 20 performances, and the situation for this year is not much better.

Tonghe Luntai, planning manager of the Fanxing Theatrical Village, explained the causes for such disparity: "The number of performing troupes exceeds the number of theaters in fact, but in many cases both sides are choosy. Some troupes go for straight commercialism at the cost of artistic value and are unacceptable to theaters that have a strict artistic demand on what to stage. Meanwhile, some troupes would not go to a theater of an undesirable location or low reputation, which they are afraid might affect the box revenue of their production."

Huang Ying shed more light on this point. "Of the 15 troupes that I know, only four of them have high standards of production. Investors are sometimes too much driven by quick benefits at the cost of artistic value, which is no good for long-term development of little theaters."

In most cases, the theaters and the troupes are two independent entities, each working according to their own principles. This has led to the situation in which some theaters need productions to fill their performance schedules while some troupes badly want a place to perform. "The nurturing of a good theater takes an ideal location, encouraging performance environment, good stage productions, and years of experience," comments Huang Ying.

Facing the dilemma that some theaters have no performances and some troupes have no places to perform, they have begun to adjust their operation mode. A successful case is Xixiaotang. The troupe adopted a business mode of operation. It studied the market carefully and chose the age group between 20 and 35 years as its audience base. "We pay attention to their needs and represent these needs using artistic forms," says Yuan Zihang. In 2006 Xixiaotang staged an urban love story, You Duoshao Ai Keyi Hulai (How Much Love Can Be Squandered), which it has retrofitted every year according to the latest developments and social issues. All these renewed versions have been warmly received by young urban professionals. Last year the troupe even staged the 2009 version in Qingdao and Chengdu. Also in 2009, Xixiaotang cooperated with the Magna Maples (Fenglan) International Shopping Center in establishing its home theater in this busy commercial area.

The development potential of the little theater market is great, but good productions are badly needed to tap that potential. "I don't object to combining commercialism with art, but commercialism can only be the means, not the goal. Otherwise, there won't be good plays," emphasizes Huang Ying.