In recent years, many audiences have dragged their suitcases to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Harbin, Suzhou, Hangzhou, etc. just to see a play. They also like a theater or even a city because of a play. How can theaters participate in urban cultural construction more actively?

First of all, as a theater builder and urban planner, government departments play an important role in promoting the joint construction of theater and urban culture. How to upgrade the theater from hardware construction to performance content construction, shape the city's cultural image and brand, and achieve a breakthrough from "exterior" to "interior" is an urgent problem that all regions must face after the theater construction boom.

Secondly, the content supply and management level of the theater must keep up with the level of hardware facilities, so that the theater can truly play its due value. The theater should focus on exploring and inheriting local cultural and artistic types, better enrich the spiritual life of local people, and strive to meet the diversified cultural needs. Expand cultural communication through efficient operation, for example, by establishing standardized management and service means, expand the scope of service space, and enhance the scale influence of cultural content; With the help of technical means, we can add wings to art, start the construction of smart theaters, and break the boundaries of theaters and stages.

Moreover, citizens, as theatre consumers and city participants, play an irreplaceable role. From the initial appreciator to the participant of integration and interaction, and then to the conscious communicator of urban culture, the citizens' cultural aesthetics, participation and support are constantly improving, which will become an indispensable link between the theater and the city, imperceptibly improving the cultural life quality of the whole city.

The theater is a wonderful stage, a cultural "reception hall" of a city, a moving window, and a microcosm of urban cultural construction. Through it, we can taste the cultural characteristics of a city, have a glimpse of the quality of life of a city, and feel the surging vitality of a city. I hope the theater can create more possibilities for the city and plan a better future.

(The author is the president of Beijing Performance Industry Association)

People's Daily (April 28, 2021, 20th Edition)

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