Returning to the Beijing stage again, the ambient suspense drama “Chessia” continues to “evolve” driven by the audience
A famous musical actress was murdered in her dressing room. Who was the murderer? On the evening of March 1st, the environmental suspense drama “Cesia” opened at the Beijing Star Theater Village II Theater. It used “Star Detective” style real-life evidence search and 150 minutes of immersive performance to present the truth to the audience.
“‘Cesia’ is a work co-created by the actors and the audience. In this play, the audience is not only a viewer but also the investigators of the case. They need to go to the stage to conduct real-life evidence collection and dig out all the subplots, easter eggs, and clues, and have fierce one-on-one confrontations with the actors.” Han Jie, the producer of “Cesia” said, “It was the first time for some viewers to come into contact with this form of drama-killing performance. They were surprised and didn’t know what to do. I thought about being able to stand up and speak while watching a play, and the actors’ lines were actually different after speaking.”
In June 2022, “Cesia” will meet the audience for the first time. It combines elements of the currently popular scripted murder and escape rooms. Once it was launched, it has been favored by many young people, “especially a group of secret rooms and scripted escapes.” Players, they walked into the theater for the first time because of this play. “Cesia” director Wu Junjie said.
Nowadays, “Cesia” has left “footprints” in Suzhou, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Beijing, and other places, with nearly 350 performances. Most audiences watch the show from different perspectives, and they can constantly provide insights into the plot and inspire the creators. New creative inspiration for the team.
“Some viewers have more out-of-the-box ideas and ask questions from more tricky angles. This will bring us a strong sense of freshness and a strong desire to express ourselves. At this time, we will shake off some baggage and use our own The interaction between the characters and the audience is a very interesting process.” “Cesia” actor Chi Haozhen said that he is looking forward to the audience asking a question that the actors have not prepared for.
Han Jie used “evolution” to describe the changes in “Cesia” driven by the audience. A typical example is that the previous version of “Cesia” had a vague portrayal of the characters. With the help of the audience, they polished the details. The plot is becoming more complete, with nearly 50% more clues added, and the love and hatred behind the characters in the play gradually surfaced.
“To a certain extent, the four endings of “Cesia” are also an ‘evolution’. The original script originally had only one ending, but we felt it was a bit unsatisfying, so we derived each story and turned it into a new one. Transforming it into an immersive drama with multiple endings makes the play three-dimensional.” Han Jie said that the four endings are stories of four characters. Only by answering each question can they freely face all the questions from the audience. Therefore, although the performance time of “Cesia” is 150 minutes, the total amount of script backstage is nearly 400 minutes.
This year’s “Cesia” also has some more “Easter eggs” – the creative team added directional clues to some small props. If the audience wants to dig deeper, they can uncover many different things, which has not been done before.
It is reported that the Beijing tour of “Cesia” will be performed for 10 consecutive performances at the Star Theater Village II Theater until March 10.