Theatre, Technology and Humanity Converge in Chinese - UMD Theatre Collaboration

The National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts (NACTA) and TDPS are embarking on a new collaboration on October 28th as part of the five-year partnership that created the bi-lingual co-production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts (NACTA) and the School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies (TDPS) are embarking on a new collaboration on October 28th as part of the five-year partnership that created the bi-lingual co-production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

A  NACTA contingent, including two junior professors and one graduate student will spend three weeks working in the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center with TDPS faculty, students and production staff, sharing each culture’s fundamental approach to theatrical production, stage management and theatre technology.

The Chinese visitors will teach TDPS about their centuries-old approach to theatre training, which evolved from ancient customs that place high value on longevity and preservation of the Eastern Chinese Opera art form. The UMD team will share their stage management process, which typically includes a stage manager or technical director, freeing the director to focus on the performance and story-telling elements of the production.

 “Seeing the one’s art from the lens of a different culture allows our students a rare perspective into their shared humanity and creative potential,” said Leigh Wilson Smiley, director of TDPS.  “That insight makes us all better able to appreciate the transformative energy intrinsic to the performing arts.”

In the fall of 2014 the NACTA-TDPS partnership will continue with a theatre technology symposium in Beijing, which will include the Yale School of Drama and London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

by Missy McTamney

In addition, TDPS will be celebrating guests from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts (NACTA) this Friday, November 15th from 4-7pm with a Dumpling Party in the Faculty/Staff Lounge. 

Update: China Daily has written a story entitled "Chinese Opera Looks to the West" about the NACTA visit in November and the ongoing UMD-NACTA creative collaboration. Cary Gillette is quoted in the article as saying:

We can relate to each other based on the work we do," she said. "I've seen a lot of communication happening that way on this trip. We have so many common elements, and can connect on the idea and the fact that at the end of the day, we both create theater. That's what they study, and that's what we study. The organization of the processes might be different, but we're really doing the same thing: We create theater.