In the theatre, who holds the master key that opens every door? 

Directed by Shanghai-based director Selena Lu, this production transforms the stage into a site of “Practice-As-Research”. Moving away from conventional scripts, the actors engage in an active analysis of backstage roles: “shadowing” and interviewing the invisible figures who keep the institution running—from technicians and administrative staff to janitors. 

By examining who directs and who obeys, what is seen/said and what remains unseen/ unsaid, Backstage Protocol maps the invisible hierarchies and power dynamics embedded in arts and education. This is a physical report on “access”: Within this rigid architecture of privilege, are we the masters of our agency, or merely expendable parts within a pre-determined protocol? 

Emergency Stairs disrupts the status quo once again, launching a social inquiry into “Access and Power” within the institution.