Drama in Beijing is no longer only the preserve of the top-billing, professional artists at the Peking Opera House. Community theater has come to Beijing -- and in English.

A new theatrical troupe called Beijing Playhouse drew theater fans into the magic of a traditional English Christmas this December. Drama lovers were able to watch A Christmas Carol -- or even audition for a part themselves. They could be the main character Mr. Scrooge or a member of the stage crew.

Chris Verrill, executive director of the semi-professional English theater, staged Charles Dickens' traditional play A Christmas Carol in December 2006, bringing to the Beijing theatrical scene an art form that in the United States is commonly referred to as "community theater", a tried and true formula in the West for more than 200 years.

"Community theatre pulls in people who love theater. Some of them are brilliant and some of them are performing for the first time. Community theatre is new to China but audiences love to watch it," said Verrill who has produced, directed and acted in over 40 shows totaling 2,000 performances in the U.S..

Verrill's Beijing Playhouse is an English theater ensemble in which all the actors have day jobs, some running a school, some working in companies and some as translators. But at night, they come to the community theater and have fun.

Verrill said Beijing has been enjoying an economic boom for many years, and now art and culture is booming too. "I hope the theatre can be a part of what's going on here in China."

Verrill, an enthusiastic drama lover and the original producer and co-host of China Drive on China Radio International, started searching for venues and ideas for his theatre last January and started to put together a theatre company from scratch. Finally he found a theatre in Beijing City International School (BCIS), located in the eastern part of the capital, and made it his temporary headquarters.

"The semi-professional theatre business model, which is sustained by ticket sales and retains cast and crew mostly on a part-time or volunteer basis, is a new critter here," said the American director from San Francisco, who had always dreamed of running his own theatre.

Sponsored in part by the BCIS, a school for children of expatriates as well as English-speaking Chinese, the theatre group found some lively children to act in its first play A Christmas Carol. And, after a total of 18 performances, Verrill is delighted to have achieved both an artistic and a financial success.

Statistics show about 40,000 foreigners now live in Beijing, making up 0.3 percent of the total population of the capital, among whom 85 percent are professional personnel. Nationwide, more than 60,000 foreigners reside in large cities such as Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Multinational community

A Christmas Carol, one of the most popular English plays, was written by Charles Dickens in 1843. It tells the story of Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim and an array of ghosts who teach cantankerous Ebenezer Scrooge the true meaning of Christmas.

Last September, Beijing Playhouse held open auditions after advertising in newspapers. About 70 people applied for roles, and 30 English speaking actors from 12 countries were selected.

Verrill said all of them were chosen based on their ability to perform the role. No preference was given in terms of nationality -- the sole criterion was whether the actors could perform in English.

"The cast and crew of A Christmas Carol are a mixture of theatre veterans with about 30 years of Hollywood experience, working alongside actors who are making their stage debut," said Verrill.

The multinational cast included actors from China, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, France, the Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Niger, the Netherlands and Indonesia.

"It's a great opportunity for people from all over the world to act a play that appeals to people everywhere. In our version the Cratchit family included people from many different countries. The cast and crew are from all over the world," said Verrill.

New Zealander Daniel Cotterall, 46, winner of New Zealand's top oratory prize at the age of 25 and an Oxford literature graduate, played the lead role of the cantankerous skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge.

He practiced his lines and discussed his character's psychology with his 18-year-old son Carl, a young actor who saw his father cry for the first time on the stage of A Christmas Carol last month.

A literature graduate, Cotterall was familiar with Charles Dickens, one of the greatest writers of the Victorian period in Britain. "Dickens was a person who loved to party and sing. Apart from being a great writer, by all accounts he was also a superb actor."

"It's a traditional English play that reminds people of what Christmas is about and which highlights difficult social conditions," he said. "People don't really celebrate Christmas here in China, but in an international city like Beijing where lots of people understand English and are keen to have leisure and art choices, this kind of play can be successful."

Julian Williams from Great Britain, head of BCIS, a veteran classroom performer and karate instructor, moved audiences as lovable everyman Bob Cratchit. For Williams the play was a real family effort. His wife Jenny was in charge of props back stage, and his daughter Verity and son Jeremy, two BCIS students and school theatre veterans who have played in Peter Pan, both had roles in the play.

Twenty-three-year-old Bruce Xi, born in Beijing and brought up in the U.S., a Caroler in the play, enjoyed the mix of cultures on the Carol stage. "You can hear different accents on stage, American, British, European and Chinese. It's great fun being with so many lovely people," he said.

"My mom wanted me to do something so I came. The director keeps telling me to stay in character. It's pretty fun," said Richard Zhou, a six-year-old Chinese boy brought up in Toronto, Canada, who played the role of Tiny Tim, the most adorable character of the play.

The rule of staying in character was a challenge for child actors like Zhou, who asked the director questions like "what if we want to go to the bathroom?" The director often had to tell the naughty children "not to move around randomly" and "no yelling backstage" during the show.

Dana Novales, a nine-year-old girl from the Philippines, won audience hearts as the Ghost of Christmas Past, a sweet angel leading Scrooge on a visual tour of his childhood.

A dance lover, she could not resist doing elegant dance movements during rehearsals, causing more headaches for the director keen to "maintain discipline". But when on stage, all the children devoted themselves to the show.

Jordan Lassoff from New York, who has been appearing in amateur productions since he was a teenager, said A Christmas Carol is a well-known, universal, traditional play filled with song, dance, laughter and tears.

"This show was a real ground-breaker. People from all over the world are performing the play in English, which is pretty rare in China. This is history happening," he smiled.

"I love performing with all kinds of actors, whether they are professional or amateur," he said. "Anybody who has the courage to stand on stage in front of hundreds of people and perform and sing and dance and act can have a wonderful experience. I'm delighted to be a part of it."

For some, performing on stage is not just for fun but a dream. Hans Harry, an American in his 30s, "ran away from home and has been a drifter ever since" according to his self-introduction.

He said with a grin that he took up acting to escape the reality of life and instead enjoy make-believe worlds. Harry intends to "continue doing this until I die".

At the end of each rehearsal, cast and crew would sit on the floor and listen to director Verrill's praise and criticism. The children relaxed and began to play with each other but were often called to attention by the director.

"You're really paying attention during the show. That's good. Let's go through my notes. I have a lot of them," the energetic director told the gathered actors.

Applause was often heard from the other actors when Verrill praised someone for a good performance.

"Everyone is there because they love theatre. They don't get paid. Evening rehearsals are from Sundays to Thursdays, and cast and crew have to invest time, effort and talent. Their enthusiasm and energy brings the whole community together," said Verrill, noting that they are starting to build an English-language community in Beijing.

Stage manager Tamara Jannink not only had to cue lights and sound during the performances but also look after safety. Holding a red fire extinguisher, she taught the crew members how to use it and reminded them about emergency exits.

"It's a safety precaution. I want all the members to be able to use it just in case an emergency occurs," Jannink said.

Everybody seemed to have a wish to achieve during the performances. Verrill dedicated the play to his late mother Marsha Gusman "who blessed this performance in ways that no one but me can understand".

Chinese element in English play

A Christmas Carol can be different every time, and most directors adapt it in personal ways, said Verrill, who was keen to give his production a local flavor for Beijing audiences.

"I just can't wait to see people's reaction."

The reaction was a sudden intake of breath by the audience. At the beginning of Act 2, just after the intermission, the Ghost of Christmas Present suddenly appears, dressed flamboyantly in a Peking opera costume, bright and jolly with a booming voice.

"Initially, we thought of having a traditional Father Christmas or Santa Claus style. But then we decided to make it more spectacular, a bit like a Chinese Father Christmas," said experienced actor Rodney Archer who was "Ghost of Christmas Present" in the play. "It's a blend of East and West because the Ghost of Christmas Present is international and universal."

Archer has a masters degree of Fine Arts in Acting, and has been a Hollywood character actor since the 1960s.

He said that when he emerged from stage blackout shouting "Here I am, Ghost of Christmas Present", he intended to give the audience a surprise.

"As far as I know, this is the very first time that A Christmas Carol has been performed in China. We wanted to do the play traditionally but at the same time inject some local color, to reflect the energy of integrating two cultures, so we have added a touch of Peking opera," said Verrill.

The director's next performances will be a a comedy in spring, a musical The Sound of Music scheduled for the autumn, and a A Christmas Carol again next Christmas but in a different style.

"Come and see what kind of Chinese elements will be added to next year's plays," he grinned.

Audience

A large part of the audience was foreigners living in Beijing who were happy to mingle with the English-speaking community created by the Beijing Playhouse. They also brought their Chinese friends, whether or not they could speak English, to see the show.

For Chinese people, there were subtitles on a screen above the stage, so everybody could take part in the show and understand what was happening.

Verrill said different audiences reacted in a different way. One night, a Chinese company audience were silent throughout the show but after the curtain came down they said it was "wonderful".

Most Chinese audiences came from companies who had purchased private performances for a party. Beijing-based Lehman Brown International Accountants purchased every seat of a Carol performance last December and invited employees, business partners and their families to the show and held a party before it.

Russell Brown, managing partner of Lehman Brown, told Xinhua that it's important to support the arts, which are flourishing again in China, and that amateur theater and local community plays should be especially promoted.

"For us, it's amusing that this is a play about an accounts director, Mr. Scrooge, who we can say had excellent cost control systems but nevertheless managed to become a nice person, and we are an accounting firm too," said Brown.

Yang Dong, a graduate student of the Communication University of China, has watched many plays, but it was his first time watching an local English play by an amateur theatre group. He said Beijing, a city aiming international, should introduce more art styles to its residents.

"Chinese people are coming because they enjoy a different culture with subtitles and foreigners are coming because the play reminds them of a traditional Christmas back home. It's a wonderful combination," he said, adding Dickens' message of human kindness is universal and timeless whether it's London in 1843 or Beijing in 2006.

"Thousands of people have been to see this show. It doesn't have to be staged in a Great Hall of the People. If you have a good time, then a small, intimate community environment is wonderful. Theatre adds to the taste and richness of life. As Lin Yutang once wrote, Life is a feast. The only question we have to answer is the question of our appetites."

(Xinhua News Agency January 11, 2007)