Fans of Beijing People's Art Theater (BPAT) have the classic drama "Dragon's Beard Ditch (Longxu Gou)" to look forward to, at the Capital Theater until Feb 9, and a new work, "Relationship", at its Small Theater from today until Feb 21.
Written by the female playwright Wan Fang, "Relationship" dwells on the relationships between men and women.
Sha Chenxing is a successful man in his 40s. He has a good job, and his wife loves him. However, he has had a secret lover for many years and is also seeing another woman. Sha's secrets are gradually revealed and he learns that he should shoulder his responsibilities. Sha finally realizes, when he plays around with others, that life will punish him without hesitation.
Playwright Wan says she focuses on relationships between the two sexes. And, yes, sex is the hottest topic.
If Relationship reminds an adult audience of its relationships with spouses, lovers and friends, BPAT's trademark production "Dragon's Beard Ditch" (1953) is a play that will appeal to those in their 60s and 70s.
BPAT has revived the 56-year-old play to mark the 110th birthday of its playwright, Lao She (1899-1966). As the first full-length modern drama produced by BPAT, and as a milestone in the development of realistic drama in modern China, it details the lives of residents in a Beijing area called Longxugou, before and after the founding of New China.
Before 1949, it was a slum where inhabitants were bullied by local despots and suffered from terrible conditions. After liberation, the government turned Longxugou into a thoroughfare, constructed a tap water system in the area and cleaned out the despots.
The revival has a twist to it. Directed by Gu Wei, with a cast of BPAT's top actors and actresses, including Yang Lixin, Zhang Wankun, Yang Guixiang, Guo Yijun and Lan Faqing - all big names in Chinese theaters - the new version of the play tries to impress the audience with a new ending.
In Lao She's story, Mad Man Cheng goes to the factory after the founding of New China. Gu's new story has Cheng become a stage actor. Gu says this is because Lao She's works helped many artists return to the stage.
Compared with 50 years ago, the theater has more methods of presenting the play. Old Beijing is so vividly recreated that you can almost feel the rain and snow. Additionally, the cast's tongue-twisting dialect is unmistakably from the capital.
It is like a time-capsule experience. Don't miss it if you have a lot of affection for the city.
Native Beijingers can also choose to see the Quju Opera adaptation of Lao She's "Teahouse" at Grand Chang'an Theater on Friday and Saturday.
Developed since the 1950s, Quju is popular in Beijing while "Teahouse" is Lao She's signature play and is Beijing People's Art Theater's most popular work. The play is set in a typical old Beijing teahouse where people from all walks of life gather.
By portraying the rise and decline of the teahouse and the problems and successes of an array of characters, the play offers a cross-section of Chinese society during the period between 1898, at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and 1948, the eve of the fall of the Kuomintang.
The Quju adaptation is also directed by Gu Wei, a veteran director and expert on Lao She.
(China Daily January 22, 2009)
