Art Beat: Drama

From screen to stage

From screen to stage: the stage version of Chinese movie The Piano in a Factory is on tour across China. Photos Provided to China Daily

The stage adaptation of the award-winning Chinese movie, The Piano in a Factory, is on tour across China and will be performed in Shenzhen on July 14 and 15.

The play tells the story of a worker who gathered his former colleagues at a steel factory to make a piano using abandoned materials. The protagonist, a divorcee, also fights with his wife for the custody of their daughter, who loves playing the piano.

The story is set in an old industrial estate in China in the 1990s. Audiences will be moved by how workers stayed optimistic and continued pursuing their dreams.

The play will be staged at Capital Theater in Beijing from July 18 to 22, after its performance in Shenzhen.

8 pm, July 14 and 15. Shenzhen Opera House, 5018 Shennan Donglu, Luohu District, Shenzhen. Shenzhen Opera House station of subway line 1 (Luobao Line). 0755-2559-6043.

Chaozhou Opera

Opera fans in Guangzhou will be treated to the latest masterpiece of Chaozhou Opera, one of the three main variants of traditional Chinese opera in Guangdong province.

The show will be staged on July 15 at Friendship Theater, where audiences will be treated to the soft and gentle Chaozhou dialect, a paper shadow play and a kung fu tea ceremony.

The heroine is said to present the typical image of a woman in the region of Chaozhou and Shantou - faithful, strong-willed and intelligent.

The story is set during the 1911 Revolution. The heroine is the owner of a tea house, manning the business on her own while her husband is abroad. She stands firm against temptations from her childhood friend and an army officer who tries to force her to be his concubine.

2:30 pm and 8 pm, July 15. Friendship Theater, 696 Renmin North Road, Yuexiu district, Guangzhou. 020-8666-8991.

Nobel Prize fairy tale

The Wonderful Adventure of Nils, the only fairy tale that has won the Nobel Prize for literature, has been adapted into a musical for the first time by a troupe in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The play debuts on July 14 in the city.

Kids and teenagers will be inspired by how Nils, the hero of the play, changes from a naughty boy to a brave and considerate teenager, through his adventures across the country on a big white goose's back.

3:30 pm and 7:30 pm, July 14 and 10:30 am and 3:30 pm, July 15. Guangzhou Beilei Theater, 875 Renmin Beilu, Yuexiu district, Guangzhou. 020-8136-2572.