Psychodrama courses to 50 left-behind teens

There was a boy in our Program, named Xiao Tao.The second psychodrama camp had officially come to an end. As the director, I am ashamed that I did not remember Xiao Tao’s full name, but I will never forget his performance in the camp.

At the beginning, he often teased his classmates and kept directing them to try difficult moves.Yet when it was his turn, he became shy and evasive, as if his mischievous exterior hid a sensitive and restless heart.

My script was called The New Year’s Eve Dinner. It had an all-male cast playing the father, mother, grandfather, and a middle school student. For me, having boys play female roles was not the hard part. The real challenge was the big twist created by the open ending and the dramatic emotional contrast required of the male lead.

During casting, the other teens rushed to take easier roles like the grandfather and mother, but Xiao Tao shrank to the back, hesitant to speak. I looked at him and asked, “Would you like to try playing the lead—a Xiao Zhi who finally explodes?”

Xiao Tao froze. He raised his head, a flicker of panic in his eyes, then quickly looked down again. He raised his hand, very slowly.

In fact, before casting, I had more or less decided that he would be the male lead, and I had asked our assistant teacher, Lao Guo, to write down his name. Xiao Tao’s choice was not entirely unexpected, but it still delighted me.

At the first rehearsal, Xiao Tao’s voice was as tiny as a mosquito. He stood in the middle of the classroom, the other teens gathered in a circle, all eyes on him. His lips moved, but not a single word came out. His face turned bright red, and he clenched the script until it wrinkled.I looked into his eyes and said, “It’s okay. We’ll take it slowly. Say whatever is in your heart.”Xiao Tao was silent for a long time before he slowly began. His voice was still trembling and faltering, but he finally got out his first line.

When we rehearsed off-book, the scene required the student lead to show intense dissatisfaction and emotional resistance after being scolded by his father—but only through facial expressions and movements. In that moment, Xiao Tao suddenly became completely immersed in the role. He glared at his “father,” stormed away from the dinner table, hid in a corner, wept with his head down, his whole body trembling uncontrollably. I had given him few stage directions; it was mostly Xiao Tao’s genuine emotion pouring out.

Afterward, Xiao Tao rehearsed again and again. His voice echoed through the empty classroom. At first it was timid, but then it grew louder and louder, as if he wanted to shout out everything he had held inside for so long.

During the message-writing activity, Xiao Tao wrote in crooked handwriting: “Mom and Dad, I know you work very hard, but I am also studying hard. While you are working hard, I am working hard too...”

The closing performance was on the afternoon of the second day. There were many audience members who had not been at the rehearsals. Before he went on stage, I told Xiao Tao, “In the real performance, don’t worry about memorizing your lines. Go by your understanding of the script and the character from rehearsal. Say what you want to say and do what you want to do.”

Xiao Tao took a deep breath, walked to the center of the stage, and said his first line loudly. His voice was clear and strong, like a mountain stream finally breaking through the rocks that blocked it.

At the climax, Xiao Tao “exploded.” Beyond the emotional performance we had rehearsed, he improvised: he snapped the grandfather’s cane, pulled off the tablecloth, and swept all the dishes off the table...

The audience was silent for a moment. Then thunderous applause broke out.

Xiao Tao stood on stage, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly, but his eyes were red. He clenched his fists tightly, like a warrior gripping his sword.

After the performance, the host, Duoduo, asked him how he felt. He thought for a moment and said, “It turns out I can act well, too.”

In that moment, I suddenly understood: the purpose of thepsychodrama course was never to train actors. It was to give these teens from the mountains a stage—to let them know that their voices deserve to be heard and their stories deserve to be told.

Like Xiao Tao, every teen has stars hidden in their heart, just waiting for a chance to shine.