Staging an act

Drama education

Liu founded her acting workshop TC Hug in 2017 when she thought she should do something to deal with the shortage of young actors in China.

"All the popular talent shows are looking for idols, not actors. I think acting is a career that needs comprehensive abilities, including performance and understanding, as well as appearance," she says.

Because of her professional training skills on the acting talent shows, many youngsters who want to be an actor beat a path to her door. Liu and her team have to select candidates carefully as there are fewer than 20 spots for each three-month training session.

Liu, who's also an acting lecturer at the Central Academy of Drama, says that professional colleges are looking for candidates who will be lead actors or actresses, and that is why their recruitment standards are so high.

"Who we are looking for are those students who might have a career as an actor in the future; they may not be the leading actors, but they could fill the supporting roles," she explains. "I also seek students who have the potential to be acting teachers."

The curriculum at Liu's workshop keeps being updated, as she thinks that the courses should always match market demand.

"For performing students at professional colleges, when they graduate after four years, they are still facing a gap between acting in class and in front of a camera," Liu says. "The crew always want the actors to be ready for filming on set, so we add rehearsals and actual on-set courses for our students."

When each training session ends, Liu says she'll tell all the students that "it's just a start for them; it doesn't mean they have finished all of the courses needed for acting. It's a continuous process.

"We are not training them to be stars but to be professional actors," Liu adds. "Acting is a career that can last a lifetime."

Liu also welcomes midcareer actors to come to her workshop, and she says she hopes that, in the future, she can provide courses for actors with different levels of experience.

As more acting training institutes are opening in China, another problem pops up, as Liu believes-the lack of excellent teachers. So, she also plans to train more acting coaches, too.

"Without enough high-quality teachers," she asks, "who is going to train the next generation of actors?"

She is still looking for proper ways to cultivate acting tutors, which may include both online and offline courses, she adds.

As well as for professional acting, she has also opened separate workshops for children and adults.

"I think drama is like a game for children," she says. "As it's a comprehensive art, when playing drama, the children may find their interest in a specific discipline, such as dancing, music or drawing."