Independent directors in China today often perform pop-up style, in art galleries, museums, or coffee shops, avoiding proper theatre venues, which require pre-approval of scripts and are frequented by government officials monitoring for sensitive content.

Artists like writer-director Wang Chong operate in what might be considered China's version of "off-off-Broadway", small, often impromptu, avant-garde performances in which independent show-runners walk a razor-thin line between censorship and artistic freedom.