Shenzhen, November 22, 2025 — The 23rd Golden Hedgehog College Student Drama Festival, a benchmark event in the field of college drama in China, recently concluded successfully. Set Sail by Teacher Chen Jianjian and The Little Zhulong Who Refused to Sleep by Teacher Li Lingbo, both from the School of Theatre, Film and Television of the Division of Arts, SZU, won the Excellent Play Award in the Full-Length Play Category and the Micro-Drama Category of the Golden Hedgehog Section respectively, thanks to their profound creative accumulation and innovative teaching practices. The two teachers’ double awards make them a rare presence at this year’s festival, demonstrating the division’s outstanding strength in drama education and original creation.

As a public welfare college drama brand rooted in Beijing and serving the whole country, the Golden Hedgehog College Student Drama Festival has adhered to the mission of supporting college students' drama creation and enriching young people's spiritual and cultural life since its establishment in 2001. It has become an important bridge connecting campus drama with the professional market. This year's festival was included in the key projects of Beijing's "Wonderful Beijing Culture, Youth Bloom" Action Plan. A total of 406 entries were collected nationwide, covering more than 1,400 colleges and universities in 34 provinces, municipalities directly under the Central Government and autonomous regions, with online and offline audiences reaching millions of people, making the competition particularly fierce. The festival set up diverse tracks such as the Golden Hedgehog Section (full-length plays of 60-120 minutes) and the Micro-Drama Section (focusing on emotional core within 15 minutes), encouraging young creators to explore realistic themes and diverse expressions. In the end, only 10 excellent plays were selected in each section.The Division of Arts, SZU has long adhered to the educational philosophy of "Upholding Virtue, Respecting Art, Diligent Learning and Pursuing Innovation". Based on the development trend of culture and art in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, it has deepened the construction of drama and film and television disciplines, adhered to the teaching model of "Promoting Learning through Creation and Cultivating People through Performance", and promoted the in-depth integration of teaching practice and artistic creation. Both award-winning works this time were mainly performed by current students of Shenzhen University, accounting for more than 70% of the cast, which is a vivid epitome of the achievements in talent training of the Division.

“The remarkable achievement of two faculty members clinching two awards is a dual endorsement of the teaching quality and creative prowess of the Division’s Theatre, Film and Television discipline,” noted a responsible representative of the Division of Arts, SZU. Grounded in Shenzhen’s distinctive identity as a “City of Design” and a hub of innovation and creativity, the Division is committed to nurturing interdisciplinary artistic talents equipped with humanistic sensibility, international vision and innovative capacity. Its drama education not only emphasizes honing solid foundational skills in traditional art, but also encourages the exploration and integration of new media art forms. Going forward, the Division will continue to leverage high-quality platforms such as the Golden Hedgehog College Student Drama Festival, deepen the multi-dimensional synergy of “industry, academia, research and creation”, build broader platforms for faculty and students to create and showcase their works, and continuously inject the youthful vitality of Shenzhen University into the flourishing development of drama art in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and across the nation.It is reported that the Division of Arts, SZU has long maintained robust competitiveness in drama creation. Previously, The Silent Shore, a work supervised by Teacher Wu Xi from the Acting Department of the School of Theatre, Film and Television, won the Golden Hedgehog Grand Award at the 22nd Golden Hedgehog College Student Drama Festival. The recent dual honors secured by two faculty members have further consolidated the university’s leading position in campus drama.