The rich, exotic tales from the Arabian Nights -- a collection of stories from the mystical lands of Persia, Arabia, India and Egypt -- have long been favorite bedtime stories for children from around the world.

Now, one of the favorite heroes from this collection rides into Shanghai on his magic carpet with the play Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp.

Staged by the Zhejiang Children's Art Theater from Hangzhou, the play is geared towards elementary school children.

Aladdin, a poor Arabian lad, happens to meet the king and princess one day. Finding that they are in great difficulty, he tries to help, but is framed and persecuted by the wicked prime minister, who is plotting to usurp the throne. In his darkest hour, Aladdin gets help from the God of Lamp, who grants his wish and turns him into a prince. Aladdin then returns to the palace with the princess, and finally defeats the enemy, using his unique wisdom and courage.

"What makes this play different from other children's plays is that it is interactive and invites children to participate," says Song Yingqiu, deputy director of the Zhejiang Children's Art Theater.

She explains that traditionally children were supposed to watch plays silently, without any interaction with the performers on stage. This would naturally be boring for children, since they have no connection with the play.

"We want our young audience to be active instead of silent," Song continues. "And we think this idea has proven to be good."

In the play, the performers often ask questions about the story and children are very willing to shout out their responses. In one scene, the king doesn't believe that the prime minister is plotting against him, and turns to the audiences, asking whether this is true. The children get very excited and shout, "Yes, yes, it is true!" It's impossible for a child to get bored with this sort of action going on.

"We also have lovely puppets and magic," Song says with a smile.

The show's cats, dogs and rabbits are all puppets, and magic is used to turn the villains to dogs.

"We use different methods to capture children's attention, and hold it," says Song. "Children's plays should be instructive, but in my opinion, it's more like entertainment. Remember they are children, after all, and lectures won't be welcomed."

The play has been touring Shanghai for three weeks to the great enthusiasm from their pint-sized audiences, many of whom even stand up and shout "Bravo!"

"It's very good," comments Yang Xiaoyue, a student. "Especially the cute puppets."

"Their costumes are very nice and colorful," echoes another audience member, Zeng Zhu. "And this play teaches me to be kind."

As Song predicted, the play's message has gotten through: Be kind and brave, and with wisdom, you can overcome most difficulties.

The Zhejiang Children's Art Theater has created a number of other high-quality children's plays, like the critically acclaimed 2-million-yuan (US$240,000) play Universe Eggs, and other national award winners.

Founded in 1988, the theater stages 250 to 300 performance each year. Even with SARS outbreak last year, they managed to put on a total of 180 shows in China.

"Our strategy is to create a new brand and with that, to take a foothold in the big market," says Song.

But with 50 million children and only 22 professional children's art theaters, the demand for children's theater is potentially enormous in China, and it requires a great deal of nurturing to reach that potential.

"To be frank, many children's art theaters in China are in bad situation," says Lin Hu from the Shanghai-based Children's Art Theater of the China Welfare Institute. "We lack the fund to create more plays."

Song Weimin, a marketer with the Zhejiang Children's Art Theater, points out that the target consumers of children's play -- the children -- are an unusual group, as they are not money earners themselves.

"So our ticket price has to be quite low in comparison with concerts and plays for the adults. We still depend largely on government subsidies, so every penny of our budget counts," Song says.

Yet although the ticket prices are low, there are parents who still are not willing to take their children to the plays.

"This is because they don't have the slightest idea of what a children's play is," says Song. "I always tell them that it's the price of just one meal at McDonald's. And it will feed their souls in a way that hamburgers just can't."

(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2004)