Issues raised by theater group see audience get in on the act

Performers challenge those watching to confront important topics.

A recent performance of Galli Theater's production Falltur (trapdoor) in Beijing ended with a rare scene — some audience members took to the stage to give a group hug to the protagonist, while others were reduced to tears.

In the play, the protagonist walks along a cliff and thinks about ending her own life, when a clown shows up and tells her to fall through the trapdoor to discover the truth about herself.

The protagonist then faces four levels of trials.

While she manages to face up to the hidden sides of her own personality and various temptations from the outer world, she fails to pass the last test, and the clown says, only when others are willing to stand by her side, can she have a second chance to live her life to the full.

The play is a piece of prevention theater by Galli Theater, an organization founded by German actor and playwright Johannes Galli that offers training in theater education and drama therapy.

"Every time I perform onstage, it's like an experience of cleansing my soul. Even though I know there is hope in the end, I still feel a sense of despair when the protagonist fails to pass the test," says the performer taking the role of the protagonist, Chen Biwen, better known as Beer.