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I know a lot of people don't agree with me, but I've always believed in the necessity of building a Grand National Theater in China. Yes, in terms of marginal benefit, the money would probably have been better spent on rural education or poverty alleviation. But a nation as culturally rich as China is needs a venue worthy of its performing arts. Besides, if we recovered a little bit of government waste, money would have been no problem anyway. I was involved in an early phase of the feasibility study for the theater around 20 years ago, when I took a group of experts on tour along the West Coast of the United States. They were on a mission to evaluate offerings in the US as they prepared plans for the future national theater. We visited several old theaters in downtown San Francisco as well as its historically important opera house. We drove down to Los Angeles to explore more performing arts halls. The one in Orange County does not have any right angles, we were told. Nothing I saw on that trip prepared me for what just opened next to the Great Hall of the People. I know the design is controversial, but it's so much better than the other designs that made it into the final competition. I'm no architect, but I believe the best architecture risks becoming just a landmark for tourism if it does not function properly. By "function" I mean presenting great art on its three stages. The first signs are encouraging. It seems the theater is not destined to overtake the Great Hall as a setting for politically themed performances. It could so easily have been a place where every province showcases its achievements by staging its own variety shows. | 
