Story of addiction

By Gan Tian (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-29 10:30

An unusual musical, Addicts, goes on stage at the PLA Theater this weekend on the world's many different attractions, temptations, and addictions.

Yifan's mother loves him so much that she wants to control everything in his life. To resist, he begins to take drugs, along with a girl called Jinjin. A cop Shanzi finally arrests Jinjin, but he cannot handle his brother Xiaomai, who over-indulges in the virtual world. At the same time, Yifan's mother sends him to see psychologist Leilei, who can assess others' illnesses in one glance, but cannot control her own life: her husband Xiaobo keeps cheating on her.

The story then takes another dramatic twist. Leilei is determined to cure Yifan's mother instead of him. Shanzi stops paying for Xiaomai's expenses. Xiaobo admits that he has fallen in love with a girl he has never met.

All the stories are funny, while familiar, and are drawn from real life. The musical does not only show what is the result of an addiction, but also describes the environment that helps addictions flourish. Director Zhou Qiao says: "It is a special musical which touches on topics such as drugs, the virtual world, and people's imagination."

The show's composer Zhang Ren says: "People who take drugs hear and see differently from us. We use music to show what they see, and unravel the mystery of drugs to the audience."

7:30 pm, June 26-28

The PLA Theater, 60 Deshengmennei Dajie, Jishuitan, Haidian district

400-810-3721, 5860-1088, 6417-7845 (English)