Project seeks to inject new blood into China's theaters

"We are facing a severe situation; we have a lack of young theater talent, we're even losing it. We need young people who love theater and love to create it," says Feng, 57, noting that the Beijing People's Art Theater has lost Ban Zan, a great actor, writer and director, who died of heart attack at the age of 41 on Sept 3.

"If we compare a play to a big tree, script is its root and actors are like the trunk. It takes 10 to 15 years to train young theater talent to become mature and professional. We must not just stimulate young writers to write original plays, but also challenge them to continue to write works with quality, which can stand the test of time."

Feng, who was born in Beijing, was enrolled in actor training classes at the Beijing People's Art Theater in 1985. According to the award-winner, the Beijing People's Art Theater, which was founded in 1952 with Chinese playwright Cao Yu as its first president, launched six actor training classes from 1958 to 1985. In 1978 and 2004, the theater worked with the Central Academy of Drama on training young actors.

On Dec 16, the theater opened an actor training class, which recruited 15 Chinese actors selected from over 1,000 applicants, aged from 24 to 42.Veteran actors such as Feng, Pu Cunxin and Song Dandan, are teachers there.