Ms Zhou
Head of Mandarin
Since its inception in 2016, the Chinese Drama Club at Wellington College Tianjin
has grown to become one of the school’s largest regular extra-curricular activities and pupil clubs. The Chinese Drama Club is open to pupils from Years 7 to 13 and rehearses an annual Chinese play and several short sketches each year. Pupils are responsible for all aspects of the production, from script adaptation, casting to lighting and sound effects, costumes and props, and advertising and publicity. Teachers are mainly responsible for organising, coordinating and supervising the process.
This year, during the Chinese Drama Club’s play selection process, some pupils recommended “Let the Bullets Fly”. The school teachers were surprised that this old film would arouse pupils’ interest. What was even more surprising was that many senior pupils immediately expressed their support. In the voting session, “Let the Bullets Fly” was voted overwhelmingly high and eventually became the play of the year. When the drama was presented to other teachers, they were all surprised by this. The young people’s depth of thought and artistic taste were beyond the teachers’ expectations. Later, they demonstrated deep understanding through their stage performances.
“Let the Bullets Fly” has proven to be one of the most challenging productions ever undertaken by the Chinese Drama Club. The main difficulties of the performance stemmed from several factors. Firstly, the film script had to be adapted into a stage play suitable for a school production. This required significant alterations, as many elements that were easily achieved in the film could not be replicated on the school stage. Secondly, the story itself is complex, featuring numerous scenes, characters, and intricate plotlines. Many aspects of the production required the cooperation of multiple people, which made rehearsals particularly demanding. Thirdly, the production spanned the summer holidays, during which the cast experienced significant turnover. On the day of the performance, three crucial members of the cast were unexpectedly absent due to illness. Lastly, the majority of the pupils from this British school in Tianjin were first-time performers, and their lack of experience on stage posed a significant challenge during rehearsals.
Despite the challenges, the pupils brought more surprises. Due to the many roles, almost every member of the club was multitasking. All of the lead actors doubled as scriptwriters and helped others practise their acting skills. The technology, costumes, and props needed to match the complexity of the play made the job tedious. The publicity team spent three weeks taking stills of each actor. Many new pupils rapidly progressed from adaptation to proficiency to active problem-solving in just a few months. During the preparation process, the pupils demonstrated great passion for the story and the performance. On the day of the performance, three members were unexpectedly absent due to illness. There were only three hours left before the final performance. The choreographers and directors urgently discussed the situation and took the approach of temporary substitutions and combining roles to make up for the gaps caused by the absence. Thank you to the pupils who saved the show, and also to the pupils in the technical and props teams. Your problem-solving skills and teamwork were amazing!
Tom (the Vice President, Writer, Director and Actor) from Year 13 said: “Let the Bullets Fly” is a classic film, and the best thing about this film is that it is fun and exciting for all ages. The students from the club want to raise awareness of the charm of Chinese drama and even Chinese culture through this play so that more people will enjoy and participate in the school’s Chinese drama activities.
Ms Jia, the Mandarin Teacher from the Junior School of this international school in Tianjin, shared with us that on the day of the performance, some Junior School pupils came to watch the play. As the performance progressed, their emotions began to fluctuate with the ups and downs of the play, and they struggled and grew up together with the characters in the play. After the show, one Year 4 pupil kept repeating the lines from the play, saying, “I wish I could go to Senior School and be in a Chinese play together! I can’t wait!”
Media Contact
Company Name: Wellington College International Tianjin
Contact Person: Admission Department
Email: Send Email
Phone: (+86-22) 8758-7199 ext. 6027
Address:No.1 Yide Dao, Hong Qiao District
City: Tianjin
Country: China
Website: https://tianjin.wellingtoncollege.cn/