By Ji Lina
“Boat of the East”, a drama with all major roles being played by grade-one students of senior high schools, will be on stage at the end of this year. In the afternoon on April 2, Hongkou District Education Bureau signed a contract with Yingsheng Foundation of Shanghai Education and Development Foundation on carrying out the “’Drama on Campus’: A Study on Hongkou District’s Practices for Enhancing the Artistic Accomplishment of Grade-One Students in Senior High Schools”. As an achievement of this study, the two parties will join hands and create a drama named “Boat of the East” for commemorating the 70th Anniversary of the Victory of World Anti-Fascist War.
Currently, playwrights are writing the scripts for “Boat of the East”. Ye Liangjun, Director of Management Committee of Yingsheng Foundation, acted as the scriptwriter. This drama takes the Jewish refugees’ life in Hongkou District as the historical background. Since this month, Shanghai Theatre Academy and Mengtao Artistic Drama Club would send professional teams to select talented grade-one students from senior high schools in Hongkou District and give instructions to them. Meanwhile, training sessions would also be given to teachers of arts.
The production and rehearsal for this drama will be completed at the end of this year, and this drama will be performed in the entire Hongkou.