Thunderous applause from a weeping audience wrapped up the premiere of a Sichuan earthquake-inspired stage drama Sunday night in Beijing.

Jian Shou (Hold on), staged at the Haidian Theater, highlighted the tenacity of the Sichuan people faced with a natural disaster through the story of a group of mountain villagers fighting together to survive, China Culture Daily reports.

This June 15, 2008 photo shows a scene of "Jian Shou" ("Hold on"), a stage play inspired by the Sichuan earthquake.

The show is among the first artistic tributes to the struggle in the aftermath of the May 12 earthquake, the report says.

Images from quake zones formed the backdrop as actors reenacted touching moments from the quake relief efforts. Sobs erupted from the audience with each new plot development, China Culture Daily says.

Director Wang Xiaoying, from the National Theater Company of China, says the play was created amidst the constant aftershocks he and his crew members faced as they worked in Sichuan just two weeks after the 8.0-magnitude earthquake.

"Jian Shou" will run three days in Beijing before embarking on a national tour on Wednesday, Wang says.