The Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, located in the Hengfu Historical Conservation Area, is the only national-level theater for drama performance in Shanghai and one of the best drama groups in China. It not only gathers a large number of professional talents representing the top artistic level in China, such as playwrights, directors, actors, and stage designers, but also has three professional theaters of different sizes, fully equipped with a total audience capacity of thousands. Every year, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre independently creates, exchanges, introduces, and tours more than 800 performances, attracting over 300,000 audiences from home and abroad.

On January 23, 1995, Shanghai People's Art Theater (established in 1950) and Shanghai Youth Theater (founded in 1957) merged to form the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, the only state-owned drama theater in Shanghai. In November 2009, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre completed its transformation into a limited liability company. On December 29, 2017, the theater underwent its first large-scale renovation in its 18 years of operation. The renovation plan revolved around the themes of "inheritance" and "development". In the theater lobby, there is a circular tile with a diameter of less than two meters, known as the "navel" of the theater. This tile, which has important commemorative significance, was well-preserved and organically integrated into the design of the new audience hall, allowing the past and the future to shine together in "rotation".

Over the past 20 years, the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre has accumulated a series of classic works that are constantly performed, such as the large-scale historical drama "Shang Yang" that showcases the stirring passion of human nature, the dark and intriguing comedy "Scholar and Executioner" that reveals the profound meaning through a small perspective, the adapted drama "Song of Eternal Regret" that portrays Shanghai women and Shanghai culture, the classic Shanghai drama "Under the Shanghai Roof" that reflects the rise and fall of a grand era through everyday life, and the large-scale original historical drama "Grand Chancellor of the Qing Dynasty" that highlights the integrity and character of a generation of literati. These works have deeply rooted themselves in the hearts of the audience.