Story set in rural Shaanxi ready to hit Beijing's stages soon

White Deer Plain, produced by Shaanxi People's Art Theater, is touring Beijing in March.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Chen Zhongshi's novel Bai Lu Yuan (White Deer Plain) was published in 1993, and it has been in the spotlight since. As the winner of China's top literary honor, the Mao Dun Literature Prize, the novel has been hailed by critics as a must-read for those who seek a deeper understanding of the country.

Among the book's adaptations, a film of the same title, directed by Wang Quan'an, won the Silver Bear for best cinematography at the Berlin Film Festival in 2012. The most recent rendition of the novel is a stage play, called White Deer Plain, by Shaanxi People's Art Theater that will come to Beijing soon.

Two venues in the city will host the play over March 11-13 and then March 18-20.

The play debuted to a warm reception in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, in December. The saga, which tells the story of two farming families surnamed Bai and Lu, is set in Shaanxi in the decades between the fall of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and the founding of New China in 1949.

Before Shaanxi People's Art Theater made White Deer Plain, the more established Beijing People's Art Theater had adapted the classic into a play in 2006. It was directed by eminent Chinese stage director Lin Zhaohua and featured famous actors, including Pu Cunxin and Song Dandan.

The comparison between the two plays seem unavoidable as both theaters created the acts based on the same script.

"For me, the advantage of Shaanxi People's Art Theater is obvious because the story takes place in Shaanxi," says Meng Bing, whose script has been used by the two theaters.

"All the actors are from the province and they speak the local dialect, which adds to the play's authenticity.