Comedy arts festival set to return to Beijing this fall

Chen Peisi (right) performs in his latest production, The Stage. [Photo provided to China Daily]

So far, Chen has produced five original comedy plays, including Tuo'er and Balcony, which have received both commercial success and critical acclaim.

For him, The Stage pays tribute to Peking Opera, an old art form of the country.

He says he brought traditional elements of the opera into the show by consulting veteran artists and historians.

Chen invited senior actor Yang Lixin to play the role of a Peking Opera amateur performer.

The festival will open with Hong Kong comedy director and actor Jim Chim Suiman's directorial production, One Night in Wu Huan, which is based on the late French playwright Georges Feydeau's classical work, Free Exchange Hotel, revolving around a night of Valentine's Day.

Other festival highlights will include British theater company Told by An Idiot's Family Who, Get Happy, and comedian Paolo Nani from Denmark, who will bring his show, Jekyll on Ice, in which he plays Jekyll, an ice-cream salesman.

In July, when Beijing Comedy Theater marked its second anniversary, veteran Chinese director Chen Xinyi staged her latest production－the Chinese version of William Shakespeare's play, The Merchant of Venice.

With a cast of young actors of the NCPA, she also introduced a live band, including a cellist, a violinist and a trumpet player. The audience was happy.

It will be staged again at the 2017 Beijing Comedy Arts Festival for five shows.