'Dramatic'Sundays in Shenzhen

There's also something dramatic in the air in Shenzhen where, since 2011, Sundays are often a feast for theatre lovers. Theatre and drama in their various forms are making waves in this southern city--from famous faces to hands-on drama clubs, a Sunday in Shenzhen has it all.

Here, at the Shenzhen Grand Theatre, the China Drama Institute, in collaboration with the Australian Art Center, are performing a reworking of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" simply entitled "Butterfly". This bilingual piece, performed with puppets, is proving popular with Chinese audiences. After the show, the performers and crew hold a question and answer session with the audience.

It's a good chance to chat with the actors and the creative team, to understand the piece and learn how to communicate this to an audience.

In order to help audiences understand the play better, actress Wang Zheng meets drama fans two days before the performance.

Wang Zheng said, "This type of melodrama is new for Chinese audiences. I hope more and more people will get to know what it's all about."

There are performances and drama workshops like this in Shenzhen every Sunday. Since September 2011, the series Drama In Sunday has held almost eighty activities. Besides imported productions, it has also worked with Pu Cunxin, Lai Shengchuan and Yang Lixin to conduct workshops. It has also established drama stations in middle schools, to help students learn more about stagecraft.

Zhao Jia, producer of "Drama In Sunday" said, "I think culture is important for people's livelihoods. We created the platform of Drama In Sunday in order to develop audiences, and promote and enrich the cultural and spiritual life of this city."

Unlike music and movies, theatre remains a minority interest for many. But the multitude of activities hosted by Drama In Sunday every year may help change that, particularly as they are free of charge.