A folk art considered too vulgar for mainstream audiences is making a comeback in contemporary Beijing.

For the first time Errenzhuan, a popular folk art in northeastern China, has been adapted as a stage drama in Beijing.

The piece, called He and She is also being boldly presented as a combination of two totally different genres: a classic Errenzhuan skit and a one-act French comedy.

The first part, Widow Ma's Inn is played in Errenzhuan and tells the story of Widow Ma, an inn owner who falls in love with one of her guests, Di Renjie. Not daring to express her affection, she retreats to the world of dreams for comfort.

The second half of the drama tells of the daydream of two factory workers who yearn for love, money and a better life. It has been adapted from Heart for Two, a classic French comedy.

"Both stories revealed the long distance of one's dreams and reality, as all characters dream of better lives but find no power to improve their situations, " explained Wang Bing'ran, the director.

"By exploring the same theme, the two stories trigger the audience to compare and understand the two genres of theatrical art forms, especially Errenzhuan, which has been much misunderstood."

Errenzhuan reached its peak of popularity in northeastern China, featuring bold theatrical spectacles and lots of singing, dancing and slapstick comedy. To keep the audience amused, performers often throw in jokes, acrobatics, and sometimes, obscenities. That has seen the folk art harshly criticized as barbaric in some artistic quarters.

That drove Wang to try and show the audience a "healthy" version of Errenzhuan stripped of the offending vulgarism. He also pioneered the brave experiment to re-arrange the usual short 20-minute Errenzhuan skit into a complete one-hour story.

To make the show more original, he recomposed many tunes in the drama with the help with old Errenzhuan artists.

Even so, the drama was rejected by Beijing People's Art Theater, China's most famous cradle of drama.

It seems that it is still hard for the mainstream drama circles to accept the folk skit.

"I am greatly hurt and have no appetite these days," sighed Guan Xiaoping, the famous Errenzhuan performer who performs in the drama. "I want to tell every Errenzhuan player to work hard to enhance their quality and change people's misplaced impression."

He and his partner Yu Miaomiao, both professional performers with years of experience, worked 12 hours a day for a month to prepare the drama: "I just want to show the audience the true magic of Errenzhuan," He said.

However, for ordinary audiences, their effort has already borne fruit. The comedy has played to roars of laughter from them and heartfelt applause.

Said one impressed viewer: "It is quite strange to find that the Errenzhuan part of the drama has no backdrop scenery, no beautiful costumes, only two performers acting all the different roles from narrator to heroes. Sometimes the performers even insert entertaining parts during the drama, showing acrobatics and jokes. But I enjoyed it and it is the first time I laughed so hard in a theatre."

Producer Han Jing professes himself satisfied: "It is much better than we anticipated. You know the main body of the audience is still drama fans. Their approval shows that Errenzhuan does have potential in comedy."

Location: North Theatre, Bei Bing Ma Si, Chaoyang

Price: 80, 120, 150 yuan (40 yuan for students)

Tel: 86-10-6406-0175, 86-10-6404-8021

(Beijing Weekend July 30, 2004)