Home, office, home, the paths for most office workers seem to be so simple, and even monotonous. But a recent play staged in Beijing proves the opposite. The play called "The Box" in the "Office Affairs" series has brought much laughter and tears to the audience, most of whom are white collar workers. The play was adapted from a popular cartoon, which focuses on office life of today's white collar workers. Let's follow our reporter Xiaoyu to have a closer look at the play.
A drama called "The Box" centered on office life is currently on show in Beijing and has attracted large groups of audience everyday.
"The play is interesting. I especially like the performance of the hero Zhang Xiaohe."
Office life might sound boring, but maybe not always. You can hear laughter and see tears in the theater for the "Office Affairs" series.
"The pace and length are all good. The scene that impressed me the most was that everyone tries to exploit the junior one. It is very realistic. And I like its sense of humor very much."
"The play reflects the real situation in the office. Many plots reminded me of some real stories took place in my office. For instance, I believe the scene that the girl refuses Xiaohe's courtship can happen in real life."
The play was adopted from a popular cartoon called "Zhang Xiaohe". Xiaohe literally means "little box" in Chinese. Zhang Xiaohe, the hero of the cartoon, has a box-shaped head, and is a so-called white collar worker, a junior clerk who often works overtime with a pitiful income. The cartoon mainly tells stories that take place in the office, which, in the eyes of the cartoon makers, is only one of the boxes in which people are contained in their everyday life. Here's one of the cartoon makers Lin Xiaoneng.
"People are living in spaces like boxes. The office is a box, the office building is like a box, the apartment is like a box, the car, the subway, the elevator, the file, the desk, the chair and books are all like boxes. It seems like everything is a smaller box inside a larger one."
After the cartoon was first released on the internet in late 2006, it soon attracted the attention of a lot of white collar workers. It is estimated that there are over 10 thousand fans across China, who often communicate with each other through online chatting rooms or forums.
Another cartoon maker Chen Gelei attributes the success to creators' experiences of working in offices, which enriched them with good understanding of the lives of today's young white collars.
"You can not say that Zhang Xiaohe is exactly like someone around us. He has many things in common with today's young workers and they can share his happiness, sadness and even some evil intentions."