The final competition of the 10th Chinese Theatre Award — Plum Performance Award, will be held in Shanghai from May 8 to 21.

Hailed as the highest honor for Chinese theater performing arts, the award is jointly sponsored by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the China Theatre Association and the publicity department of Shanghai. This is the first time the event is being held in Shanghai in the award's 42-year history.

A total of 17 shortlisted productions will be presented in Shanghai, covering a wide variety of 11 types of traditional Chinese folk operas, as well as drama and dance theater shows. This year a total of 62 outstanding drama actors entered the preliminary evaluation, of whom 17 were shortlisted for final evaluation.

"We believe theater art should serve the people, and hope the award-winning productions could make more shows, and be seen by the wider public," according to Chen Yongquan, deputy chairman of the China Theatre Association. "For this reason, we want to give priority to productions with simple stage designs, where the theatrical effect relies heavily on the capabilities of the actors, so that the award-winning productions can tour extensively and reach more audiences."

Fifteen winners of the Plum Performance Award will be announced on May 21, alongside five winning scripts for the 26th Cao Yu Theatrical Literature Award.