Changjiang Theater, whose precursor was the Carlton Grand Theater, a world-famous theater owned by a Briton in China in the last century, has reopened after more than two decades of closure.

The new theater positions itself as pioneering, experimental and innovative, and will mainly hold opera performances as well as stage plays and educational demonstrations.

Changjiang Theatre distinguishes itself from other traditional opera theaters in Shanghai not only by the content of its programs, but also through its clear audience positioning. Focusing on traditional art, it integrates modern and contemporary art such as dance, music and multimedia. Besides young people, it also takes into account the needs of the social intellectual class.

The opening season schedule released on October 15, the first day of its opening, includes Peking opera, Kunqu Opera, Yue Opera, Suzhou Piantan and cross talk.

Designed by famous architect L.E. Hudec, the Carlton Theater opened in 1923 and has since premiered numerous films and dramas from home and abroad, such as Thunderstorm by Chinese drama writer Cao Yu, The Prisoner of Zenda by American MGM Studios, The Lady of the Camellias by Alexandre Dumas Fils, and Resurrection by Russian author Leo Tolstoy.

Under the joint public and private ownership of individual enterprises, a policy amid the Three Great Remolding period in the middle of the 1950s, the theater was transformed to be managed by the Chinese government and renamed the Changjiang Theater. It was shut down due to the obsolete state of the building in 1993.