ABSTRACT
In the early 1950s, the All-China Theatrical Workers’ Association called on its branches in different places to initiate theatrical week, during which some new scripts were staged. As one of the theatrical centers since modern times, Shanghai was also caught by severe recession. After the Spring Festival of 1950, theatre managers took great pains to operate under overall recession. To Lantern Festival, several theatres suspended their operation. In the highly commercial market, the scripts, newly composed or adapted from traditional drama, aimed at soliciting as many audiences as they could. According to the survey on the first batch of trainees selected at the army art troupes made by Central Drama Academy in September, 1959, the troupes which were mainly engaged in traditional drama had very few scripts for their operation. The rigid and trenchant standards for adapted scripts soon aroused the government’s attention.
