Capital Theater

The People’s Arts Theater of Beijing was established on June 12, 1952 as a Chinese drama institute. The drama master Cao Yu was the first president of this theater. The well-known play Dragon Beard Ditch, written by Lao She was its defining work, and later it continued to put on Thunderstorm, Sunrise and The People in Beijing written by Cao Yu and the famous play of GuoMoruo—Tiger Tallies.

By the tenth anniversary of the foundation of PRC, the performance style of the People’s Arts Theater of Beijing has basically formed and released Tea-house, The Ungrateful Lover, Rickshaw Boy, Aesop and the other four dramas at the same time as a gift to celebrate the National Day. Such an event of that size was unprecedented at that time. Concurrently, dozens of directors, performance artists and stage artists represented by Jiao Juyin, OuyangShanzun, DiaoGuangtan, Yu Shizhi, Xin Chun and Song Yin soon won high popularity throughout the country.

Under the influence of ShuXiuwen, Yu Shizhi, Ying Ruocheng and other artists, the dramas put on by the Capital Theater show out a kind of Beijing artistic style that is real, impressive, simple, and implicit, that has vivid character images, strong flavor of life and typical national characteristics, and that realizes the unity of stage images.

The major dramas displayed by the theater over the past 40 years and more are The Ungrateful Lover, Guan Han-ching, Tea-house, Thunderstorm, Song of Loyalty, Small Alley, Death of a Salesman and other plays among which Tea-house has been put on many countries in Europe, Asia and America, exerting great impact in the world. The plays of the People’s Arts Theater of Beijing are regarded as the model of Chinese modern dramas.

There are three major playhouses reserved for drama display, and they are Capital Theater, People’s Art Theater, and Experimental Theater of People’s Art.

Address: No.22 Wangfujing Street, Beijing

Opening Time: all year round