The Shanghai People’s Art Theatre, founded in 1950, and the Shanghai Youth Drama Troupe, founded in 1957, were merged into Shanghai’s only state-owned drama theatre - Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre on January 23^rd, 1995. In accordance with Some Opinions on Deepening the Reform of State-owned Art Performance Troupes, co-issued by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee and Culture of Ministry, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre Co., Ltd. was established in November 2009 under the guidance of the Publicity Department of CPC Shanghai Municipal Party Committee, and completed its restructuring into an enterprise in 2011.

At present, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre operates three theatres at the Drama Building, including the Art Theatre, Drama Salon, and D6 Space. It also manages two theatres of different sizes at the Shanghai International Dance Center, and holds a controlling stake in the Shanghai Huayi Culture Communication Co., Ltd., which runs the 1933 Micro Theatre and Sky Theatre.

The Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre has consistently pursued the integration of ideological depth, artistic quality, and audience appeal in its productions, drawing inspiration from real life and staying rooted in the people, while balancing social and economic benefits. Since its founding, the Arts Council of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre has played a key role in commissioned works development, script review, risk control over key projects, and the incubation of new works, ensuring the quality of artistic output.

Over the past 20 years, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre has gradually enriched its repertoire with a series of ever-popular classics. These include SHANG Yang, a large-scale historical drama that eulogises the lofty sentiments of mankind; The Scholar and Executioner, a black screwball comedy that unfolds intriguingly with a humble start to draw forth an amazing whole; Elder Brother, a drama commission that presents China’s achievements in its reform and opening-up and tells a heartwarming story about how home makes sense; 1977, an inspirational drama about the destiny of educated youth in the special era; Everlasting Regret, a drama adaptation that depicts the women of Shanghai and reviews the Shanghai culture; Under the Roofs of Shanghai, a classic Shanghai-style drama that reflects the ebb and flow of history in civil life; and The Grand Chancellor of the Qing Dynasty, a large-scale historical drama commission featuring the integrity of literati. To mark the 70^th Anniversary of the Founding of the P.R.C., the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre also staged the large-scale drama commission The Heart of Heroes. Over the years, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre has received numerous national, provincial, and municipal art awards including the “Five-One Project” Award by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, the “National Project to the Distillation of the Stage Art” Award, the Wenhua Award, the Plum Blossom Prize by the China Theatre Association, the China Golden Lion Award for Drama, and the Shanghai Magnolia Stage Performance Award.

The Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre has been committed to aesthetic and theatre education for more than 20 years. In recent years, the Centre has placed particular emphasis on aesthetic education for young people. The Centre has hosted the College Drama Festival of Shanghai for 16 consecutive years and the Shanghai Theatre Festival for Middle School Students for 6 years, along with the “Colourful Theatre into School” touring programme, which brings text-based drama to primary and secondary schools, making aesthetic education and drama accessible to every primary or secondary student across the city.

Over the years, more than 200 colleges have signed up for the College Drama Festival of Shanghai, more than 130 schools have joined the Shanghai Theatre Festival for Middle School Students, and more than 100,000 primary and secondary school students in Shanghai have attended performances through the “Colourful Theatre into School” programme.

The Centre also places importance on aesthetic education for adults, launching educational theatre initiatives such as the “Prison Programme” and the “Hospital Programme”. In collaboration with the North New Stream Prison and Ruijin Hospital, these progammes bring theatre into prisons and hospitals, using drama as a means of emotional healing and support.

Today, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre continues to uphold its cultural mission, contributing to the promotion of the “Shanghai culture” brand and advancing the city’s development as an international cultural metropolis.