Higher seminar: Theater as a Social Space in Post-Pandemic Shanghai
Seminar
Date:Wednesday 30 April 2025
Time:15.00 – 16.45
Location:F6, Conference room
Speaker: Paolo Nordera, PhD student, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, SU.
Theater as a Social Space in Post-Pandemic Shanghai: Preliminary Analysis of Yu Rongjun’s Left Unsaid
Abstract:
The COVID-19 pandemic drastically altered the landscape of China’s performing arts, intensifying the economic pressures on the performance market (演出市场 yanchu shichang). With many institutions and individuals lacking financial resources, numerous activities were halted. When the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre (SDAC) re-opened, audiences were eager to return to live theater after experiencing online and outdoor performances during the pandemic and to seek solace in the regained social space of the theater. In this context, Yu Rongjun (喻荣军), the center’s artistic director, staged Left Unsaid (不可说 bukeshuo). The play reflects Yu’s insight into human nature during the epidemic, focusing on lingering emotional effects, even though COVID-19 is never explicitly referenced. The characters, through their interactions, embody the social fabric of post-pandemic Shanghai, with the central theme exploring the breakdown of communication in a crumbling marital relationship. This portrayal highlights how theater, even in a transformed social and economic environment, maintains its power to unite and reflect societal issues. In the seminar, a preliminary analysis of the script, the performance, and Yu’s writings on the work will be offered. By examining the plot and character portrayals, the paper connects these elements to a broader context, providing a reflection on how such works engage with Shanghai’s evolving theater scene and their ideological relevance in a post-pandemic world.
Zoom link on request.
To attendants from outside the Department: Please pre-register with the seminar organizer, Jaqueline Berndt (jberndt@su.se), to allow access to the venue.
