Making Puppets Profitable

　　Zhao Yongzhuang’s first impression of theChina Puppet Theater was bleak.

　　“The facilities were very old， and the children had tosuffer mosquito bites while watching the play，” said Zhao，the chairperson of the since-renovated theater. “The occupancyfor each show was lower than 10 percent.”

　　The hardship was not exclusive to the China PuppetTheater. According to statistics from the Ministry ofCulture， the total number of performances by stateownedart troupes has been declining since the 1980s，from 740，000 in 1985 to 400，000 in 1994. During thistime-frame， 30-40 percent of the operating funds camefrom government support. Very few of the theaterhouses were self-sufficient， let alone profitable.

　　The government knew there had to be a changein this sector. For China Puppet Theater， that changecame on September 15， 2006， when it announced plansto transform into an enterprise， as more than 2，000Chinese art troupes at the time were required to do soeventually. It was also when Zhao， a businesswoman，assumed responsibility as the chairperson of the 50-yearoldtheater.

　　Tradition and innovation

　　Zhao believed her first and primary task was to producean excellent play to rebrand the theater and win newaudiences. “Good plays are the essence and core competenceof a theater.” To compose an attractive act， shehired famous directors， choreographers and composersto create a new play， Monkey King， with a total investmentof 5 million yuan ($819，000). The play was soon ahit in Beijing， with performing commitments reaching210 a year and generating 11 million yuan ($1.8 million) atthe box office.

　　Since the success of Monkey King， the theater producedtwo or three new plays every year， both originalstories and adaptations. All of them integrated a varietyof art forms including dance， acrobatics and martialarts. The theater has developed many new forms ofplays based on traditional puppet plays and managedto achieve innovation every time. In Young Confucius， forinstance， some line-controlled puppets were replacedwith large stage characters. When the two life-sized horsepuppets “walked” from the entrance to the stage， enthusiasticcheering rose instantly from the audience.

　　But those innovations were also criticized by many.

　　People blamed the theater for abandoning longstandingpuppet play traditions. “There is a hugemisunderstanding，” Zhao said in defense. “Inheritingtraditional art and innovating cultural industry are notcontradictory.”

　　In fact， the theater has invested 1 million yuan($163，000) on reproducing a classic puppet play. It alsoarranged a performancescheduleof 500 commitmentsa year forstrictly classicplays.

　　“It’s difficultto simply relyon traditionalplays. If wewant to profit，we need innovation.

　　But the classic andinnovative arejust like our right hand and left hand，”Zhao said.

　　Art and business

　　Before coming to the China Puppet Theater， Zhao was renowned as a managerof international buildings. As the firstcertified property manager in China， Zhao had workedas general manager for several famous enterprises. Herexperiences convinced her that a theater cannot survivefierce competition by merely having good plays.

　　“In Beijing， there are a lot of good plays and theatersalready， but the problem is that people do not walk intothe theaters to watch the good plays，” Zhao said. “Sowe have to build a platform between plays and people’sconsumption， which is marketing.”

　　Zhao passed this idea to her team， among which onlyfour out of 154 are administrative staff. Others all focuson performing and marketing. “No theater in the worldcan feed itself on performing only，” Zhao said， remindingher employees that art should serve the market. Evenhigh-level executives have personal million-yuan salestargets to meet every year.

　　A total of 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) was investedon theater renovation to make it look like a fancytheme park to better attract children. The theatermeanwhile signed contracts with 19 well-knownbrands including a fast food restaurant and Englishtraining institute， which will open stores in thenew theater， filling two-fifths of the space， asparts of a plan to build an industrial chain.In addition， the theater also keeps lookingfor partners to further explore the market.

　　In 2012， the China Puppet Theater cooperatedwith the Beijing Zoo， converting anabandoned elephant house into an AnimalCastle Theater with investment of 5 millionyuan. In the following eight months， it attracted 330，000visitors and box office revenue amounting to 8.31 millionyuan ($1.36 million).

　　“Although we pursue benefits and strive to build anindustrial chain， we never forget that the core value of atheater is its arts，” Zhao said， insisting on strict standardsfor stories， music and directors， “because you have to bemuch more serious about your job when your customersare children.”

　　Look into the future

　　In the past seven years， the China Puppet Theater’sannual performing commitments increased by 10times， and its audiences by 16 times. The total revenuehas amounted to 215 million yuan ($35 million).

　　But Zhao told ChinAfrica that she still has an unfulfilled“Chinese dream.” “I hope Chinese puppet plays can go tothe international stage and entertain children around theworld，” she said. To achieve that， she believes that moretransformation and reform are necessary for the old arttroupes.

　　The theater is planning to establish five to eightAnimal Castle Theaters in Dalian， Guangzhou， Shanghaiand Chongqing， and to invest 400 million yuan ($65 million)in facility expansion in order to realize its ambition tobecome a leader of the children’s cultural industry inChina.