Peach blossom usually symbolizes luck in love for the Chinese. But I Love Peach Blossom, this year's first production by the Beijing People's Art Theatre (BPAT) breaks with that tradition and instead tells the story of a love affair that ends in betrayal and murder.
Directed by Ren Ming, deputy president of the theatre and starring a group of promising young actors and actresses, the play will run for a month at BPAT's newly-opened Experimental Theatre from Friday.
BPAT currently has three venues, including the Capital Theatre and the Small Theatre, located next door, and the Experimental Theatre.
Coincidentally, Ren directed the first play to open at the Small Theatre in 1996.
BPAT invested 4 million yuan (US$483,000) to build the Experimental Theatre in the original banqueting hall on the third floor of the Capital Theatre. The Experimental Theatre covers more than 400 square meters and has 250-300 seats.
Ren chose I Love Peach Blossom as the play to raise the curtain of the new venue, because it is "a new play, an original play and a Chinese play."
Last year, the National Drama Theatre of China, BPAT's major competitor, opened the theatre with Quiet Dawns, a re-staged, well-known former-USSR production.
I Love Peach Blossom is writer Zou Jingzhi's first drama. And the final piece was the result of Zou revising it six times.
Best known for his poetry, Zou, 50, added to his credits when he wrote the opera The Night Banquet to the score of Guo Wenjing in 1996. His fame increased with the screening of the stories for the popular TV serial Kangxi Weifu Sifang (Emperor Kangxi Travels Incognito) and Tiechi Tongya Ji Xiaolan (Ji Xiaolan Has a Glib Tongue) which he wrote.
"But writing a drama has been my dream for several years," said Zou.
In 1999, the BPAT invited him and some other writers to create plays for the theatre, which established its name over half-a-century or so with plays written by renowned Chinese dramatists Guo Moruo (1892-1978), Lao She (1899-1966), Cao Yu (1910-96) and Tian Han (1896-1968).
"I have been anxious and excited while brain-storming the writing and revision. For me, passion is much more than experience for writing a play," said Zou, adding: "But anyway, I enjoyed it."
The inspiration of I Love Peach Blossom comes from Xingshi Yan, a collection of short stories published during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).
According to Zou, the collection has been lost in China, but fortunately one of the original copies has been preserved in South Korea. In 1993 he had the opportunity to read the stories, one of which fascinated him. That was the story he used as prelude to I Love Peach Blossom.
Set in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) it tells the tale of a character called Feng Yan who has an adulterous affair with the wife of another character Zhang Yin. One night, Zhang, an alcoholic, arrives home earlier than expected and Feng, with no time to make good his escape, hides in a suitcase.
But in his haste, Feng leaves his hat on the sofa where the drunken Zhang slumps down and falls asleep.
Feng signals to Zhang's wife to retrieve the incriminating hat, but she misunderstands and instead slips her sleeping husband's sword from his side. She thinks Feng wants to kill her husband for the sake of their love.
But, in fact, Feng's only thoughts are to get out with his hat. And when his lover treacherously passes him her husband's sword he is outraged. "How vicious the woman is! I just want the hat, but she gives me the sword," Feng thinks to himself. The next moment he turns the weapon on her and leaves.
It is this scene which opens a series of dramatic vignettes. For the rest of the play, the writer and the director portray a series of alternative story lines, all based on the original theme of adultery. Among the differing possibilities and their unfolding consequences are Feng killing Zhang and Feng committing suicide.
"It is an 'open' drama which has several different endings. The aim is to inspire the audience to 'close' it as they like. We discuss different ways of living through the play," said Zou.
Although a play originally written and set in ancient times, it has been brought up to date. And the drama all takes place in today's society.
"This story from the Tang Dynasty is still meaningful to audiences living in the 21st century. That's one reason I chose it when Zou offered me three stories last summer," said director Ren.
Explaining: "People today are more concerned about personal emotions, especially love, whether it's love between husband and wife or between lovers."
In addition, it is common that lovers misunderstand each other, in this instance the results are somewhat dramatic and extreme.
It is not rare to have "a play inside a play," and it is not original that a story has differing outcomes. But I Love Peach Blossom captivates its audience, not only for the ageless themes of love and betrayal, but also because it is extremely well-structured.
"We do not complicate the plots for the sake of telling the story. It is very natural to have, in reality, so many possibilities," said Ren.
He believes all those who have even been and are in love can empathize with the characters. "It might sound too sensational, but it is quite possible that the person sitting beside you, if you go with your lover, would ask you during the play: 'Would you give me the sword?'"
Impressive performances are given by Xu Ang as Feng Yan, Wu Shanshan and Bai Hu, who alternate at playing the female lead, and Yu Zhen as Zhang Yin.
The poet-turned playwright's lyrical lines, contemporary music, accompanied by the drum rhythms of Peking Opera, cleverly combine to add to the atmosphere of foreboding.
Performed on a revolving stage designed by Zeng Li, who won acclaim for his setting of Zhang Yimou's production of the opera Turandot and the ballet Raise the Red Lantern, all contribute to making I Love Peach Blossom an impressive and sound start for the BPAT's newly-opened Experimental Theatre and a fruitful 2003 season for the company.
(China Daily March 25, 2003)
