Half Sugar looks to explore the question of whether distance really does make the heart grow fonder. [Provided to China Daily]

Backstage with Elyse Ribbons: Bringing you a roundup of all the best theater shows this week – because variety is the spice of life.

All romance, practically speaking, is a mixture of the bitter and the sweet, and Confucian influence ensures that most Chinese romances are a little more bitter than sweet. However, a little sugar has been sprinkled on the stage this weekend, and you can take a deliciously gloomy stroll down lovers' lane with the contemporary play Half Sugar, ballet Raise the Red Lantern or Peking Opera The Sheep Herder's Tale. Melancholic romance never tasted so good. Yet, I don't recommend you actually lick the stage.

A contemporary farce, Half Sugar is about relationships between young Chinese and modern "weekend marriages", which have become a trend in major metropolises across the Middle Kingdom. Directed by Li Bonan, who previously helmed several other contemporary rom-coms, notably Left-Behind Girl, this play aims to address the question: does distance make the heart grow fonder? The title for the play is taken from "half-sugar-ism", which is Internet slang, and deals with the modern notions of how to keep the love lasting longer. However, is this little bit of sugar the poison or the cure? A great window into the issues of contemporary marriage and romance, definitely not sappy sweet, but there's some laughter among the tears. It's at Xianfeng Theater in Dongdan Santiao until Sept 4.

Now, let's go back in time to an earlier era of Chinese marriage fashion with the National Ballet of China's performance of Raise the Red Lantern. This ballet is more eye candy than sweet story. It's as incredibly beautiful as it is moving, although a tad depressing. Even if you haven't seen the movie, this tale of marriage bliss and romantic woe among four wives in a 1930s Chinese family is exquisite to behold. With performances the world over, this is an international caliber ballet and is worth the time and tears. The show is at the Peking University Commemoration Hall (Beida Jinian Jiangtang) on Sept 2-3.

The last show is a bit of an outlier. Most traditional Chinese romance stories involve the death of lovers, or at the least their love is forever unrequited), but that's not the case in The Sheep Herder's Tale. Before I go and give away the story (hint: the lovers might just get back together despite the ploys of the main villain), it's important to mention that the star of the show is none other than Lu Yang of the Cheng School of Classical Peking Opera. This relatively young performer has taken the Peking Opera world by storm, and in the last couple of years she has played the lead roles in many standards. As this show is on for only one night, I highly recommend heading to the Mei Lanfang Theater on Saturday to enjoy a traditional Chinese romance that ends on a sweet note, rather than a bitter one.

Got a show coming up? Send news and reviews to metrobeijing@chinadaily.com.cn or chinadailymetro@gmail.com. Follow us on Sina Weibo @chinadailymetro.

Read more from Elyse Ribbons on her blog, iheartbeijing