The second story allows audiences to peep through windows into a studio where a reality show is being made. In the third story, audiences are invited to sit on revolving chairs placed in the central courtyard of a country house and observe the movements of characters around them as the story unfolds.

A large number of innovative performance spaces have emerged in town in the past few years, according to Zhang Xiaoding, general manager of the Shanghai theater.

"We have been thinking about introducing a popular resident show in the existing theater spaces of the Shanghai Grand Theatre, and we will see if we can attract some new audiences. We've had some successful collaborations with the director, Zhao Miao, and have learned about his plans to adapt the British series into immersive theater," she says.

Zhang points out that the studio theater on the fifth floor of SGT has been a popular location for small-scale productions by theatergoers in town.

"Our chief technician and the play's production team did their research and came up with this idea to add soundproofed walls and redesign the theater into a unique space for Inside No 9, which will serve as a resident show at the Shanghai Grand Theatre for about a year," she says.