Beijing People's Art Theatre (北京人民艺术剧院/北京人民藝術劇院) is a

theatre company Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

that was founded in June 1952 by drama master Cao Yu. Since its founding, the company has produced nearly 300 dramas of different styles, from classic Chinese themes to adaptations of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and worl ...

. The company is based in the Capital Theatre in Beijing. Through the 1960s, it was known primarily for staging the representative works of master playwrights

Guo Moruo Guo Moruo (; November 16, 1892 – June 12, 1978), courtesy name Dingtang (), was a Chinese author, poet, historian, archaeologist, and government official. Biography Family history Guo Moruo, originally named Guo Kaizhen, was born on November ...

Lao She Shu Qingchun (3 February 189924 August 1966), known by his pen name Lao She, was a Chinese novelist and dramatist. He was one of the most significant figures of 20th-century Chinese literature, and is best known for his novel '' Rickshaw Boy'' ...

, Cao Yu and

Tian Han Tian Han ( zh, 田汉; 12 March 1898 – 10 December 1968), formerly romanized as T'ien Han, was a Chinese drama activist, playwright, a leader of revolutionary music and films, as well as a translator and poet. He emerged at the time of the ...

. Since the 1980s, the theater has introduced nearly 80 new dramas by 27 award-winning playwrights, including '' Signal Alarm'', the first play written by

Gao Xingjian Gao Xingjian (高行健 in Chinese - born January 4, 1940) is a Chinese émigré and later French naturalized novelist, playwright, critic, painter, photographer, film director, and translator who in 2000 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature " ...

, and his most celebrated drama '' Bus Stop''. In 1980, the company toured outside China for the first time, performing Lao She's masterpiece "

Tea House A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment wh ...

", the company's signature work, in Japan and

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. The company broke more new ground in 1983 when it invited playwright

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are ''All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

to direct a production of what was seen at the time as a uniquely American drama "

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montage ...

," an experience Miller recounted in the form of a day-to-day diary in his book ''Salesman in Beijing'' (1985). In 2005, the company made its United States debut with productions of "Tea House" at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the

Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts The Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts is the principal theatre of Pace University and is located at the University's New York City campus in Lower Manhattan. Facing New York City Hall, City Hall near the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and blocks ...

Pace University Pace University is a private university with its main campus in New York City and secondary campuses in Westchester County, New York. It was established in 1906 by the brothers Homer St. Clair Pace and Charles A. Pace as a business school. Pace ...

in New York City.

References

{{Authority control Theatres in Beijing 1952 establishments in China Arts organizations established in 1952 Theatre companies in Beijing