Promotional material for one of the dramas at the performance season Photo: Courtesy of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre

On Wednesday, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre held a press conference in Beijing for its Magnolia Blossoms performance season, announcing that from July 7 to December 17 eight participating plays from the Centre will be staged in the capital.

Shanghai drama has a long history of learning and performing exchanges with Beijing. As early as March 1956, the Centre, formerly the Shanghai People's Art Theater, participated in the first national drama exchange performance in Beijing, putting on works at the Tianqiao Theater for nearly a month.

The Magnolia Blossoms performance season is a brand-name performance season for the Centre to get out of Shanghai and face audiences in various places in China. The Centre held the performance season in Beijing in 2013, 2015 and 2017 respectively, attracting great attention from Beijing drama industry insiders and audiences. 

In 2013, at the invitation of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, the performance season debuted in Beijing. Shanghai brought three works to perform 14 shows in total, a grand event for drama exchange between Beijing and Shanghai.