On January 15, Shanghai Dramatic Art Center ushered in a special retirement ceremony, China’s first guide dog theater manager Ai Jein reached the age of guide dog service, officially bid farewell to work, start retirement life, and will enter a new family to enjoy the old age. At the same time, three working dogs, Choo Chu, Jinna and Enke, complete their studies and embark on a career path to help blind and autistic children.
Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center has been actively promoting the “Working dogs into the theater” activity, and its drama Building, located at 288 Anfu Road, is the first guide dog friendly theater in China. Since 2013, Shanghai has organized three large-scale promotion activities, committed to allowing more theaters and public places to accept working dogs, to help society barrier-free travel.
In 2013, the drama “Massage” produced by Shanghai Dramatic Art Center invited guide dog Jenny and her owner Chen Yan to watch the drama in the theater. Since then, it has become the first theater in China to accept guide dogs. In the past ten years, it has always shoulder the social responsibility of smooth travel for the disadvantaged groups. In 2018, during the renovation process of Drama Building, barrier-free facilities were upgraded and improved, two barrier-free entrances and supporting ramps were set up at the entrance of the theater, the public toilets of the three theaters were equipped with seated toilets with handrails, and there were also maternity rooms inside the theater. The Jasmine Theater also gave priority to the construction of barrier-free access at the initial stage of reconstruction, with barrier-free access on the first floor leading from the entrance to the interior of the theater.
In 2021, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center helped launch the “Guide Dog into Theatre Program” promotion activities, invited actor Wang Yinan to shoot the first “Guide Dog into Theatre” public service publicity video, and hired early retired guide dog Ai Jie as the “honorary manager” of the theatre, to publicize the “three questions” rule when encountering working dogs. Jointly promote the guide dog public welfare publicity and advocacy work. In the same year, the graduation ceremony for guide dogs was held in the theater for the first time, and the “Guide Dogs into the Theater Program” was fully implemented. Every Sunday afternoon, 13 seats in 1 row and 19 seats in 1 row of the Grand Theater and Art Theater on the first floor of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center became the exclusive seats for visually impaired friends and guide dogs, and these times were clearly marked on the performance leaflet. It is convenient for the audience to choose other shows.
In 2023, three of China’s first autism assistance dogs were officially commissioned after a graduation ceremony at the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center. In 2025, the Guide Dogs for the Blind Theatre Programme will be further upgraded with the aim of gaining more support for working dogs and promoting the development of barrier-free theatres.
In addition, as the first open theater in China, the Drama Building opens four floors of public space to the public, the lobby on the first floor and the theater cafe on the second floor are free to enter and leave, the Drama Station on the third floor is set up to hold theater exchange activities from time to time, and the Century Drama Exhibition on the sixth floor is set up to introduce the history of Shanghai drama and the achievements of Shanghai drama people. Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center has always adhered to the vision of “making Shanghai language a container for people’s spiritual space”, from the construction of barrier-free facilities to the training of staff skills, giving everyone the right to enter the theater, making it easier for the public to enter the theater to watch performances, embrace art, and help society travel without obstacles.
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