With rapid responses and fast feet, an all-women troupe in Beijing is using improvisational theater to connect with their audiences by performing the stories of those who volunteer them.

Using improv comedy and playback theater, a sub-genre where audience members’ stories are immediately interpreted by stage actors, Beijing Broads are joining the resurgence of live performances in the post-COVID era.

Ahead of World Theatre Day on March 27, the troupe gave a performance in the Chinese capital before a packed auditorium.

Performer Summer Zhang points outs how improv art mirrors everyday life by virtue of it being unscripted.

"The philosophy of improv is that you embrace changes. A lot of times in real life when changes happen, you panic. You will see that people who have done improv for a long time are very confident and they play with changes."

She says this improv theater offers audiences a more moving experience than comedy alone.

"Audiences who come for comedy come to see how much laughter you can give them. In improv, we have different elements. You come and feel that something was touching. You can feel sad, you feel connected, you feel excited, and you can also laugh. To be funny is not our goal. Connection is our goal," said Zhang.

Their show "Once Upon a Broad" starts with playback theater before the cast flash their improv skills. The first segment provides a gripping, emotional ride as some audience members come forward to tell their personal stories and then pick cast members to portray them on stage. Later, the cast picks up pieces of paper from the floor with sentences written on it by audience members, and then works them into their improvised scenes.

Cast member Freey Qiu said improv must strive for authenticity to deliver an emotional punch.

"Jokes are not what we are looking for. We are looking for some entertainment based on real life things. We think that if we add more real life and authentic experience into our improv process, it will be more grounded, more powerful," said Qiu.

"Playback Theater encourages people to share their own feelings and experiences in public. This can be stressful for some people. Interestingly, people share their personal life on social media in front of millions of people, many of whom they don’t know. But when we ask people to share their real experience with (a live audience), it becomes terrifying," she added.

Jingwei Zhang, another troupe member, says they are expecting to see live theater bounce back in a big way.

"Performances and gigs are reviving, for sure. I think there are going to be lots of new shows, big and small, coming up this year and in the coming years. People need to go out for such gatherings. I personally enjoy small theaters a lot, since it gives me a sense of closeness and community," she said.

COVID presented a challenge for art troupes as they strove to remain active despite months of restrictions on social gatherings.

"We've always had to face (the prospect of) members needing to leave the country for new journeys in life. During the hard times (of the pandemic), we still managed to make many shows together, and we really played as a team even though we were not practicing as much as we’d expected," she added.

In commemoration of the World Theater Day, Beijing Broads actor Ginette Brenkman says theater can offer a creative outlet.

"I hope more and more people in China will get the chance to have their voices heard through theater," she said.