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recently, the opening performance season of mumu theater and the first parent-child theater festival of fanxing theater village (referred to as "parent-child theater festival"), an important part of the 2024 "canal drama" performance season, hosted by the propaganda department of tongzhou district committee of beijing, supported by tongzhou district culture and tourism bureau, and undertaken by mumu theater, was held in beijing. during the parent-child theater festival, a total of 81 parent-child themed performances and activities were held.

in recent years, the parent-child drama market has been active, with new works constantly emerging and combining with new performing arts spaces, further bringing drama to children, families, and daily life, giving birth to new business formats and industry growth points, and triggering new thinking.

let drama play multiple roles

the mumu theater is located in tongzhou, beijing. relying on the combination of "drama + commercial complex", it aims to create a one-stop cultural and entertainment life "check-in place" that attracts trendy young people, art lovers, and parent-child families. on the opening day, the children came to the garden party held by the mumu bookstore, changed costumes, painted faces, and made handicrafts, immersed in the atmosphere of drama. in addition to various performances, the parent-child drama festival also held "paper dreams"-children's art market, "fall in love with peking opera"-peking opera children's handicraft workshop, director zhang yan's drama workshop, director liu shiyu's drama workshop and other activities to attract more families to pay attention to drama and cultivate a life habit of accompanying art. "we have always paid attention to the cultivation of audience groups, and have produced drama content for children and parent-child family audience groups, so that art can accompany children to grow up." said hao weili, executive general manager of mumu theater.

compared with regular children's drama performances, parent-child drama not only targets children as the audience, but also emphasizes that parents and children should participate in it together and interact fully, so that children can learn knowledge and exercise skills in the process of playing and acting, making the parent-child relationship more intimate and harmonious. audience cheng yue believes that parent-child drama cannot be viewed only from the perspective of artistic performances. parent-child drama is also a new carrier of aesthetic education, a new way of family education, and a new method of parent-child social interaction. "parent-child drama is not an occasional ritual, but a long-term companionship, allowing art to play a greater role in life." cheng yue said.

from the perspective of art entering life, many new performing arts spaces have made parent-child drama an important section. this summer, major new performing arts spaces in qingpu, shanghai, launched interactive parent-child magic comedy shows such as "magic show of variety" and parent-child dance drama "dancing my world", making performing arts venues the "first choice for taking children out for a walk". the re-enacting times art center in chongqing is equipped with a children's drama art training base and regularly stages high-quality works. the children's drama experience center of the colorful world, a new immersive performing arts space in beijing wangjing, has also attracted many parent-child families. audience member xiao jiang said: "the colorful world has brought us a wealth of performance content, and there are many projects designed specifically for children. it is not only for watching a play, but also suitable for the whole family to relax."

emphasis on participation and drama

parent-child drama attracts the whole family, not only allowing parents and children to experience the charm of drama, but also its driving effect on surrounding leisure, catering and other industries cannot be underestimated, and has deepened the industry's understanding of the relationship between drama style, performance and life. many industry insiders believe that parent-child drama needs to be more approachable and diverse. in the future, parent-child outdoor art activities will be a major focus of parent-child performances. by then, the performance forms of parent-child drama will be more diverse, and the driving effect of parent-child performances on surrounding industries will be more fully exerted.

parent-child drama is popular because of its high participation and strong interactivity, and its linkage with aesthetic education, social interaction and industry also relies on these characteristics. however, when parent-child drama places too much emphasis on parent-child immersion and playing, its style and temperament become closer to interactive games, and the dramatic attributes are not effectively highlighted.

experts and practitioners believe that, similar to the situation of children's drama creation, the age division of the audience of parent-child drama is not detailed enough. on the one hand, this leads to a gap in the age range of the works, and on the other hand, it leads to the creators tending to "go for the low rather than the high" when choosing the ideological theme, the complexity of the storyline, and the way and style of audio-visual presentation. as a result, the stories and characters of some parent-child dramas tend to be childish, and the dramatic attributes are not fully reflected.

"some parent-child dramas are actually 'playing house'. parents participate with the mentality of coaxing their children, and are not really moved by the content of the drama. for older children, the oversimplified processing and packaging also makes it difficult for them to gain inspiration from drama and art." screenwriter siqin said, "nowadays, children's thoughts and minds are often more mature than adults imagine. we can try to guide them to appreciate and understand works with stronger artistic meaning and more dramatic in parent-child dramas. such works are also more likely to attract parents to truly participate in the interaction and help children understand the context and connotation of the works."

under the influence of factors such as changing concepts, media development, and transformation of social life, cross-border integration in the field of art is nothing new. the in-depth dialogue between drama and immersive performances, scripted entertainment, etc. has been recognized by the market and audiences. from a macro perspective, the booming parent-child drama is keeping pace with the times and is also a general trend. but no matter how innovative a certain art form or performing arts form is, "content is king" is always a simple and profound truth. "the key to integrated development is to learn from the strengths of others, not to lose oneself in the ocean of information, and not to use one's own shortcomings to gain the strengths of others." cheng yue said, "developing the dramatic attributes and characteristics of parent-child drama may be more conducive to its long-term development."