As the audience entered, hair dryers, music and the sound of toilets flushing were heard in the theatre during warm up.
当观众入场时，影院里响起了热身时的吹风机、音乐和冲厕所的声音。
“Who wants to wash their hair?”, or, “Which lady needs a manicure?”, were the refrains which came from the actors already on stage.
“谁想洗头？”，或者，“哪位女士需要修指甲？”，舞台上的演员们已经在重复着这句话。
The improvised-mini performance amplified the sense of expectation, in part for the play itself but also for the new urban icon where it was being staged.
这场即兴的迷你表演增强了人们的期待感，部分是出于对戏剧本身的期待，也是对上演该剧的新城市地标的期待。
“Crazy Barber Shop” (疯狂理发店) is the first major production to be put on in the 1956 Star Theatre in Jiangsu Province’s coastal City of Yancheng. First since COVID and first in what used to be the Yancheng Cinema. Both the performance and the venue more than got The Nanjinger’s attention.
《疯狂理发店》是1956年在江苏省沿海城市盐城明星剧院上演的第一部大型剧目。自新冠疫情以来，这是第一次，也是在以前的盐城电影院。演出和场地都引起了《南京人》的关注。
For theatre in China is on the whole a very staid affair.
因为中国的戏剧总体来说是一件非常古板的事情。
But this ground-breaking, interactive comedy challenges that. Debuting back in 2021, this year’s tour of Crazy Barber Shop officially opened in Yancheng on the evenings of 22 and 23 February.
但这部开创性的互动喜剧挑战了这一点。 2021年首次亮相的《疯狂理发店》今年巡演于2月22日至23日晚在盐城正式拉开帷幕。
Spoiler alert; it’s a murder-comedy. And one which presents itself with another opportunity to engage the audience. This time not for a shampoo and blow dry, but to lead them towards the climax of the performance as witnesses to a crime, with the play’s detective reminding them to constantly collect random clues to the case.
剧透警告；这是一部谋杀喜剧。这为自己提供了另一个吸引观众的机会。这次不是洗头、吹干，而是带领他们以犯罪目击者的身份走向演出的高潮，剧中的侦探提醒他们不断收集案件的随机线索。
It’s stuff hitherto very rarely seen on a stage in the Middle Kingdom. And that’s why the venue chosen for the tour’s local stop was all the more appropriate, itself a one of a kind that is also an architectural marvel.
这是迄今为止在中国舞台上很少见的东西。这就是为什么为这次旅行的当地站点选择的场地更加合适，它本身就是一个独一无二的建筑奇迹。
The 1956 Star Theatre is to be found in downtown Yancheng, along Jianjun Zhong Lu. Built in 1956, it was the former Yancheng Cinema and since had undergone two phases of renovation. With subsequent various uses by retail stores, all cultural character had been lost.
1956明星剧院位于盐城市中心的建军中路沿线。始建于1956年，原为盐城电影院，历经两期改造。随着零售店随后的各种用途，所有的文化特征都消失了。
Shanghai-based Offhand Practice was the architectural firm given the task. Their client, the City’s Tinghu District Urban Asset Investment Co., wished to reintegrate the design and recall the unity of the historical building, fulfilling the functions of theatre and exhibition.
接受这项任务的建筑公司是上海的 Offhand Practice。他们的客户是市亭湖区城市资产投资有限公司，希望重新整合设计，恢复历史建筑的统一性，实现剧院和展览的功能。
The architects carefully identified where the new was to be inserted and where the old should remain intact. While restoring every detail of the original front facade and preserving the existing structures, the two wings were reconstructed in a contemporary design language, humbly attached to the original building.
建筑师仔细地确定了新建筑要插入的位置以及旧建筑应保持完整的位置。在恢复原始前立面的每一个细节并保留现有结构的同时，两个侧翼以当代设计语言进行了重建，谦逊地依附于原始建筑。
The result is world-shattering architecture with a sense of restraint therein.
其结果是令人震惊的建筑，其中有一种克制感。
But would people ever get to appreciate its splendour? It was early 2021 and COVID was still simmering in the background. April of 2022 saw the project come to completion and Yancheng now has the 1956 Star Theatre, delivering performance but also serving as an urban cultural hall. When there are no performances going on, local citizens can come to explore the venue, and feel the fusion of art and culture.
但人们真的能欣赏到它的辉煌吗？那是 2021 年初，新冠肺炎疫情仍在幕后酝酿。 2022年4月，该项目竣工，盐城现拥有1956明星剧院，既提供演出，又作为城市文化殿堂。没有演出的时候，当地市民可以来这里探索，感受艺术与文化的融合。
The 1956 Star Theatre is a poster child for a totally new kind of China. And if it keeps putting on the likes of Crazy Barber Shop, it’s one of which we could do with seeing a lot more.
1956 年的明星剧院是全新中国的典范。如果它继续像《疯狂理发店》那样，我们就可以看到更多。
Designer: “Offhand Practice” / “Photograph: “half half”. Images from Crazy Barber Shop: Yangtze Evening News
设计师：《即兴练习》 / 摄影：《一半一半》。图片来自《疯狂理发店》：扬子晚报
