Reviving classics to retell timeless stories
Beijing People's Art Theatre has launched an ambitious plan to bring back some of the most iconic works in Chinese stage history, Chen Nan reports.
Last year, the theater had a successful season, with 35 productions and 509 performances staged in and outside Beijing.
On Wednesday, the theater unveiled its highly anticipated lineup for this year. Besides restoring classics, it will stage new productions, kicking off 2025 with Romulus der Grosse, a new play directed by Feng, starring Lu Lu and Yang Mingxin. The production, made for the experimental theater of the troupe, will premiere on Saturday. It blends comedy with seriousness and will take the audience through a unique "amusement park" experience.
For the upcoming Spring Festival — the biggest traditional Chinese festival — the theater will stage its Family Reunion, setting the stage to entertain audiences during the holiday. The play tells the story of a family spanning five decades. The Wang family lives in a traditional courtyard in a hutong alley in downtown Beijing and, for generations, they have been committed to the maintenance and repair of historical buildings. Since the play premiered in 2005, it has become one of the most popular plays in the Beijing People's Art Theatre's repertoire, especially during Spring Festival. Beneath the Red Banner, a play adapted from the Lao She novel of the same title, will also be staged during the festival season.
A special performance of Thunderstorm, directed by Pu Cunxin and Tang Ye, will take place in September to commemorate the 115th anniversary of playwright Cao Yu's birth. The renowned playwright was the first president of the theater, and Thunderstorm is considered one of China's most enduring 20th-century dramas. Since 1954, the Beijing People's Art Theatre has staged five versions of this classic play.
