Le Père (The Father)

Quality·Creativity·Diversity

Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre (SDAC) was founded in 1995 after a merger between Shanghai People's Arts Theatre (founded in 1950) and Shanghai Youth Drama Troupe (founded in 1957) to form the city’s sole state-owned theatre.

SDAC currently owns three theatre venues: Arts Theatre, Drama Salon and D6 Studio, which are housed in Drama Building, the centre’s headquarters. Additionally, it also manages Shanghai International Dance Centre’s two theatres of contrasting sizes, Jasmine Theatre and New Shanghai Theatre. In 2019, the newly renovated Drama Building was infused with the fundamental concept of creating an “open” theater, with special spaces such as “theatre space station” and “little dramatist's house” for audiences to rest, think and experience, in addition to enjoying shows.

In recent years, the meaning of “Produced by SDAC” has been specifically embodied in excellent production and an emphasis on the integrity of the overall performance. The repertoire and style have been deepened step by step, and four major brands have been gradually formed and developed in the field of artistic production: “Modern Original”, “Global Stage”, “New Wave”, and “Classic Reinterpreted”. The “New Work Development” platform was also formed. This production system has become a solid backing for “Produced by SDAC”.

Under SDAC's unremitting exploration and practice, their productions can inherit a freehand drama view with Chinese characteristics integrated with different styles and trends of drama development around the world.

The inheritance of a theatre’s history and tradition is not defined by a set of plays or a building, but more importantly, by its artists’ vision and passion. The performances on Anfu Road have become a unique landscape in Shanghai. Going to Anfu Road to see a show, and trusting SDAC for its production excellence have gradually become a fashion culture, a way of life, and even a habit in the city of Shanghai.

Florian Zeller is a French novelist, playwright, theatre director and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most celebrated contemporary dramatists of his generation, his plays have travelled across continents, been translated into numerous languages and staged to great acclaim.

In 2020, Zeller adapted and directed Le Père (The Father), based on his own stage play, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman. The film received widespread critical acclaim and became an international sensation, earning over 200 nominations and awards, including two Academy Awards. In recognition of his contributions to the arts, he was appointed to France’s prestigious Legion of Honour in 2023.

Shanghai-born director, scholar and educator Jiang Weiguo has shaped generations of theatre makers across China, Europe and the United States. Beginning his career in the 1960s as both actor and director, he first taught at the Shanghai Theatre Academy before receiving an Asian Cultural Council (ACC) fellowship to study in the United States, where he served as a visiting scholar at Yale University and New York University.

Jiang went on to earn his doctorate in the United Kingdom, later becoming a research fellow at the University of Leeds, and subsequently taught at Taipei National University of the Arts and Barnard College, Columbia University. From 2001, he served eight influential years as Dean of Drama at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He currently holds visiting professorships at the Central Academy of Drama and Shanghai Theatre Academy, and is an Honorary Professor at the University of Hong Kong.

His directing work spans China, the United States and the United Kingdom, from Shakespeare and Cao Yu to contemporary drama, musical theatre and traditional opera. At Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, his credits include The Woman’s Last Day, WWW.COM (English version), Stealing Hearts, The Republic’s  Manager, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Everlasting Life, Into the Sky, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

Shen Wei is a lecturer at the Communication University of China’s Digital Media Arts Department, with a background in philosophy (King’s College London) and film (Royal College of Art, London). His creative path has taken him to the Cité Internationale des Arts Residency programme in Paris and to German director Werner Herzog’s renowned film workshop in Peru.

His films and theatre works have appeared in festivals in Venice, Rotterdam, Tallinn and beyond. As a writer and director, his works include The Trial of King Ubu, West, Madness, Measure for Measure, and Hamlet at Sixes and Sevens.

Fluent in English, German and French, Shen’s translation credits include Zeller’s The Father, and Werner Herzog’s memoir Every Man for Himself and God Against All.

King Shih-chieh is a revered performing artist and a founding member of the legendary Lan Ling Theatre. Equally celebrated as an actor, director and educator, he has taught at Taipei National University of the Arts and received a Fulbright Scholarship for Exchange in the United States in 1984. King is the recipient of major honours, including the Shanghai Magnolia Stage Award, the Shanghai One Drama Award for Best Actor, and Best Actor at the Chinese Theatre Awards.

A graduate of the Shanghai Theatre Academy, Tian Shui is a National First-Class Actor of China and serves as Secretary, Chief Producer, actor and director at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre.