Shanghai Stress Relief: Sleepwalking Theater, Drama School, Stand-Up Comedy

The author visited these places: The Bund, Shanghai. Published on November 15, 2021, at 09:48 AM. As[...]

The author visited these places: The Bund, Shanghai. Published on November 15, 2021, at 09:48 AM.

As part of the most ‘competitive’ generation, our ways to cope with stress are nothing more than drinking, dining, clubbing, and gaming. Once, a close friend said to her husband, ‘I’m so unhappy today!’ He replied, ‘Let’s go clubbing tonight! A good dance will fix it!’ It’s very straightforward, and indeed, after dancing, she felt better. We concluded, ‘Random dancing is the joy of our primal nature, no wonder we see Africans so happy.’ Although it was a joke, it’s true that we often feel unhappy. Especially as the year-end approaches, the pressures of the entire year seem to converge, and occasionally we need to do something mindless to let our constantly tense minds relax. Today’s article shares three stress-relieving experiences I’ve recently enjoyed, hoping to inspire some weekend ideas and add a bit of joy to your busy life!

01 Immersive Sleepwalking Theater: Happy Mahua’s ‘Alleyway 1992’.

Happy Mahua can be considered a guarantee of comedic quality, but what I recommend this time is not a simple play! In simple terms, it’s a murder mystery game combined with a comedy performance, somewhat similar to Sleep No More. The performance venue is located in the newly popular North Bund Raffles City’s urban market. Upon entering, hearing the advertising song of Libo Beer, ‘Reasons to Love Shanghai’, feels like being pulled back 20 years. Seeing the retro signs, old-fashioned TVs, washing machines, and the grandmother mannequin selling gardenia flowers at the street corner… it’s as if we’ve returned to the era of laughing at the alleyway entrance while waving palm leaf fans. These long-unseen objects may carry the memories of several generations. Who, as a child, has not visited a convenience store, or strived for a floating red flag? Are these snacks still familiar? Once upon a time, it was common to see grandmothers on the roadside making gardenia (Shanghainese: Bai Lan Hua) wristlets. Buying one, the fragrance could last for several days. This grandmother in the theater scared me several times; it was too realistic.

Finding a big bay area brother and collecting childhood posters and stickers, the internet-famous venue added a lot of color to the entire performance, and because it was chosen here, the performance time was set from 22:30 at night to 01:30 the next day. When I first saw this time, I was also surprised; it’s obviously not very friendly to early sleepers. After the show, I felt that occasionally staying up late is worth it. Throughout the whole process, I didn’t feel sleepy at all. It’s hard to imagine that I lasted so long, and I was still very happy after it ended, discussing the ending with my companions.

A reminder: This urban market has many areas closed during the day, and it’s open for the first time after midnight. I suggest everyone can come earlier to have dinner and take photos, after all, the play will go quite late into the night.

Spoiler ahead: In Fu’anli, an alley in old Shanghai from 1992, there is a rumor of ‘a red-clothed vampire on the loose’. Each viewer will be divided into 12 groups and follow 12 professional NPC actors from Mahua FunAge to search for evidence and uncover the truth. Whenever the bell rings, everyone needs to gather in the open square to analyze clues and find out who the ‘vampire’ is. The whole play is quite friendly to beginners of scripted murder mysteries/escape rooms. Although it’s about looking for the ‘vampire’, there are no terrifying elements and no one will come out to scare you. There will also be a dedicated actor to take you to play throughout. Just follow her guidance. Even if you slack off, you can still finish playing smoothly.

This play has great interactivity. Each actor has strong ability to catch jokes and a reaction ability of 100 points! The Tingting we followed in our group is a female worker in a clothing factory. She took us to the workshop to play games, kick shuttlecocks, throw sandbags, and solve puzzles to exchange for Bai Lan coins. These Bai Lan coins can unlock a memory segment of Tingting and other actors (presented in the form of a performance), which can help you solve the case. At the end of the story, there is a twist. There is a touch of sadness in the warmth. No more spoilers here. Life is full of disappointments. Beautiful memories can often only be hidden in the heart. Dreams always have to wake up. If you know it’s a dream, would you still be willingI think the 499 yuan ticket for ordinary users is enough.

02 Take a performing arts class: Stan Lai’s Creative Drama School.
Saying that the performing arts class is decompressing is because you are fully focused on it. I think a big source of everyone’s stress is the continuous messages in mobile phones, which may be from DingTalk, WeChat, or real-time tracking platform data. This nearly three-hour experience class requires you to completely put down your phone, focus on yourself, and focus on the present moment. I think it’s very decompressing and relaxing.
The first step is to let everyone adjust their breathing, clear their minds, calm down, and gradually extend from feeling oneself to feeling the surroundings, and then slowly extend from the space to the farthest end of the universe and come back. The whole process is very much like meditation and Zen practice. If you haven’t participated in related activities before, you may feel a little uncomfortable. But following the teacher’s instructions and focusing on doing it is still very comfortable. At the end of this stage, I thought only 10 minutes had passed, but unexpectedly it was a full 40 minutes.

The second part involves walking around the classroom, individually or in groups, following or not following rules, to sense the surroundings and each other. I feel this stage is about aligning everyone’s energy and rhythm.
The third part begins to build trust and tacit understanding through a series of interactions, continuously changing groups to bring hearts closer together and increase trust.
Finally, we engage in a storytelling and plot relay, an entire segment filled with laughter. Reflective connection, establishing trust, our instructor Chen Guohui, who played a role in ‘Once Upon a Time’, teaches us to let go of logic, remove labels, and observe the world. The entire process is quite unique, relaxed, stress-relieving, and emotionally releasing. Opening oneself up, fully committing to the present moment and others, trying out new behaviors, is suitable for urbanites under stress, to temporarily leave behind all work and worries! I even had the idea of attending the full course. After all, exploring the unknown is also extending one’s life!
The address for Shang Drama School·Stan Lai’s Dramatic Creativity School is: Floor 5, Shang Theatre, Meiluo City, No. 1111 Zhaojiabang Road.
How to register: WeChat public account Shang Theatre menu bar Adult Drama Workshop, there are also children’s course options.

Come to an offline event: 233 Stand-up Comedy.
First, let me share my favorite performer of the show: Liang Yanzeng. Some may ask, what’s the difference between watching stand-up comedy online and offline? Why go offline? Although this analogy might not be quite appropriate, you can think of it as the difference between watching a movie and a play! Whether the actor performs well, whether the emotions are conveyed, everyone present can feel it, and the audience’s feedback will directly affect the person on stage. The host, Shu Huan, is also very funny. Offline stand-up comedy topics are more open, you could say there are no taboos, and they especially like to poke at life’s pain points. The helplessness, setbacks, heartache, happiness, or unhappiness you’ve experienced, there’s always someone who will perform it in a more humorous way for you, helping you to dissolve it, and give life a counterattack. Some say stand-up comedy is ‘self-deprecation, the art of offense’.
At the start, the 233 host asked, ‘How many people are here because they couldn’t get tickets for Xiaoguo?’ Almost everyone in the theater raised their hands. I admit, I was one of them.
The entire stand-up comedy show lasts about 1.5 hours, with 4 performers taking turns on stage, the atmosphere is great, there are plenty of punchlines, and the audience is constantly laughing. If you like interaction, you can grab a seat in the middle of the first row (arrive at least half an hour early), the performers will frequently call out to you and interact with you.
At the end of the event, everyone in the audience was aware that there was someone in the front row who dealt with Hermès proxy shopping, and another who sold anti-hair loss shampoo through e-commerce. It’s unclear whether they managed to identify their target customers in the crowd.
There are numerous shows at the 233 Comedy Club, including open mic nights and special performances. Tickets can be purchased through the public account and the ‘Let’s Go’ platform. You can check to see if there are any performers you like.
At the entrance, we spotted Xiao Jia from ‘Comedy Show Season 4’ on the autograph wall.

That’s it for today’s share! If you have other ways to relieve stress, please feel free to