Setting the stage for creativity

It's hard to define what a theater producer does exactly, even for those working in the field.

"Many think theater producers are people who 'look for money and talent'," said Niu Meng, one of the writers of the book Yiqie Weixiju (Everything Is for Theater), at its launch ceremony at the Poly Theater in Beijing recently.

"For many, sometimes theater producers deal with financial or commercial affairs, or work like a steward; sometimes, they are salespeople, publicists, ticket-service providers, agents for actors and actresses, servants. At other times, they are in charge of logistics, and responsible for investment, integrating resources, running errands and 'putting out fire'. In a word, they do everything trivial, but many things that seem unrelated to the art itself," she said, adding that "most domestic theater producers would encounter misunderstanding and underestimation".

This became one of the major reasons for Wang Keran, founder, chief producer, and art director of Magnificent Culture, one of the leading theater production companies in China, and Niu, to co-create the book. Founded in 2008, Magnificent Culture has successfully introduced and produced plays and musicals, including A Dream Like a Dream, The Village, Ghetto, Winter Journey, and Ponzi, in the Chinese mainland.

"Theater is not a very popular art well known by the masses in China," Wang says.