A fabulous century
Important events in the development of Huaju, or Chinese modern drama
1907: Spring Willow Society (Chunliu She), a group formed by Chinese students in Japan, performed an excerpt of La Traviata and Uncle Tom's Cabin in Tokyo, starting the Chinese modern drama movement.
1914: Six modern drama groups gave joint performances in Shanghai, reflecting the rising popularity of modern drama.
1928: Playwright Hong Shen suggested calling the movement "huaju", which originated from Western drama and differed from traditional Chinese operas.
1934: Twenty-three-year-old Cao Yu published his script Thunderstorm, which would become a drama classic.
1949: China Youth Art Theater was founded in Beijing.
1950: Central Academy of Drama was founded in Beijing in April, and Shanghai People's Art Theater was founded in Shanghai in August.
1952: Beijing People's Art Theater was founded, with Cao Yu as the first president.
1958: Written by Lao She and directed by Jiao Juyin, Teahouse was debuted by Beijing People's Art Theater at the Capital Theater of Beijing.
1980: Beijing People's Art Theater toured 15 countries with Teahouse.
1982: Directed by Lin Zhaohua, Absolute Signal was performed by the Beijing People's Art Theater, symbolizing the beginning of the "small theater movement".
1989: The first Small Theater Festival of China was held in Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu Province.
2001: China Youth Art Theater and Central Experimental Theater were combined to form the National Theater Company of China.
2003: The first Beijing International Theater Festival was held.
(China Daily 04/21/2007 page6)
