An old film becomes a new play
A theater performance based on a 1937 hit movie about the lives of four young people, who struggle against a backdrop of chaos and war, will take the stage at Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts, Chen Nan reports.
"Friendship, love and responsibility are topics that relate to young people of any generation and deserve to be discussed today."
Huang is one of China's most successful theater directors with over 40 plays under his belt. He was drawn to theater after watching the classic Chinese play, Antique, directed by renowned Beijing People's Art Theater director Lin Zhaohua in 1997.
The then 18-year-old Huang, who was born and raised in Beijing, was very impressed by the play, which follows a competition between two Beijing-based antiques collectors from the 1900s to the 1930s, as well as the vivid stage portrayals by the actors, including Pu Cunxin and Liang Guanhua.
After watching the play, Huang spent a year reading books about theater and watching over 100 theater performances in the capital in 1997 and'98.