World Tibet Network News Monday, February 09, 1998

SHANGHAI (Feb. 8) XINHUA - Zhoima Yangzom, a young, shy Tibetan girl who tended to blush when speaking in public, entered the Shanghai Drama Institute a little over two years ago.

However, Zhoima has studied acting for two years in China's largest metropolitan area and has emerged as one of the best students in theacting class for Tibetans. She, in fact, won audience acclaim for herportrayal of a shrew in the class graduate play entitled "Shared Kitchen"

"Absolutely superb. Zhoima and her classmates portrayed Shanghai landersso well and convincingly that it was hard to believe they were actually Tibetans," said one young man in the audience.

Three hundred people packed the institute's small theater for each ofeight scheduled performances, and an extra show was added to fulfillpublic demand.

The class, the fourth group of 18 stage performers the institute hastrained for Tibet since 1959, also won praise from school officials.

The young Tibetan thespians were simply high school graduates fromLhasa, Shannam and Xigaze prior to their arrival in Shanghai. "I hadnever been out of Tibet before coming to Shanghai. I spoke poorPutonghua (or spoken Chinese) and my knowledge of stage plays waslimited to a few Tibetan operas and xiaoping, or popular short stageplays with simple plots, said Phubu Cering, the class monitor.

Phubu, 20, and other Tibetan youngsters, as well as the school andteachers, share credit for the success.

The institute charges Tibetan students half of regular tuition feeds,and the few students unable to afford even that receive financialassistance from the Shanghai Education Committee and various ethnicminority committees, as well as the institute's Association of FemaleProfessors.