Congratulations on the successful completion of this production. As several experts mentioned earlier, with a relatively modest budget and limited investment, we have created an immersive performance of considerable value.

I have never viewed this solely as a commercial project. In my view, what we are undertaking is not simply a project, but a pilot initiative in cultural tourism creation. Our entire creative team comes from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, which has placed strong emphasis in recent years on creative practice related to the cultural tourism sector. Everyone on the team has regarded this collaboration as a rare opportunity to learn and gain practical experience.

I would like to sincerely thank the Qianshan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal People’s Government for placing their full trust in us, for providing the excellent waters of Snow Lake, and for making Qianshan’s rich historical and cultural resources available to us. These conditions allowed us to pursue original creation with confidence.

Every member of the creative team has approached this task with exceptional dedication. Over the past several months, we encountered all kinds of unexpected challenges every day, and working through the night became routine. Limitations in funding, equipment, and staffing inevitably created shortcomings, but no one on the team focused on personal gain or loss. Instead, everyone worked with the available resources to refine the production and pursue the best possible stage presentation. That is truly valuable.

Our goal is to build a cultural tourism creative brand that belongs to the Shanghai Theatre Academy. Profit generation was never our first priority. Being able to deliver the stage results we have today means that we have, in some measure, lived up to the trust placed in us by the local government.

The premiere of this production is only a starting point, not the final version. Next, we plan to advance an upgraded Version 2.0 of the work. Our core positioning will remain unchanged: we do not intend to create a short-term project, but to cultivate a long-term cultural tourism undertaking and establish a stable, sustainable creative platform.

Looking ahead, Versions 2.0 and 3.0 will not be limited to developing a single performance brand. Our ultimate goal is to build a complete theatrical ecosystem in Qianshan. Drawing on local history, culture, and folk stories, we hope to bring these resources to life through precise and carefully crafted artistic methods, forming a cultural tourism ecosystem with a distinct local character. This is the key direction of our next stage of work.

In short, the encouragement and valuable advice offered by experts at today’s discussion session will be enormously helpful for the production’s further development. Every rehearsal and every round of organizing feedback is essential to the work’s continued improvement. The entire Shanghai Theatre Academy creative team is refining this cultural tourism production, which represents our institution, with a commitment to excellence.

Ultimately, our purpose is not merely to create one production or a short-lived cultural brand, but to establish a sustainable cultural tourism creative ecosystem. Yesterday, I made a special visit to sites associated with Master Cheng Changgeng. With Tianzhushan, Snow Lake, and its wealth of historical and cultural resources, Qianshan has enormous potential to use Lakebound Dreams: Xiao Qiao’s Wedding as a starting point and continually develop a series of immersive waterborne performances.

About Lu Ang

Lu Ang is Director of the Department of Directing, Professor, and Doctoral Supervisor at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. He has been recognized as an Outstanding Chinese Theatre Director of the New Century and serves as a member and Secretary-General of the Drama and Film Studies Discipline Review Group of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council.

He has directed more than 100 theatrical productions in China and abroad. His honors include nine Wenhua Grand Awards and Wenhua Awards, four Wenhua Awards for Directing, seven “Five-One Project” Awards of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Outstanding Director Award at the China Theatre Festival, and the Golden Lion Award for Directing in Chinese Drama. He has also received the National Stage Art Excellence Project’s Top Ten Outstanding Productions Award five times and has participated in numerous international theatre festivals. He is a recipient of the Achievement Award at the Cairo International Festival for Contemporary and Experimental Theatre.