The world's a stage

Audiences in for a treat as young talented directors display their creativity during a college theater art festival being held in the capital, Chen Nan reports.

The Lion King roared new life into the career of a talented artist and helped tug at the strings of puppetry creativity. The musical, based on the 1994 Disney animated feature film of the same name, was staged in Shanghai in 2006. Gao Guiyu, a fresh graduate with a master's degree, was in the audience that night.

"That musical left a deep impression. I was young and ambitious, had watched lots of theater productions and read a number of books about theater," recalls Gao, 36, who was born and raised in Weihai, Shandong province.