Drama on olympic scale

Beijing turns into a stage as a world-class theater festival unfolds to enchant audiences, reports Raymond Zhou.

Theater lovers are rushing from one venue to another as the 6th Theatre Olympics shifts into high gear in Beijing. While thunderous applause is filling the houses, people are emerging scratching their heads and raising sharp questions in conversations after the shows. A festive mood permeates the Chinese capital, a metropolis so mammoth as to threaten to drown out any such activities.

The festival started earlier this month with a revival of a Peking Opera production titled You and Me. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it was also the title of the theme song for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Another similarity is the director, the renowned filmmaker Zhang Yimou, a reminder of that other event with the word "Olympics" in it. The opening show may not be a typical theater piece in your imagination, but the festival calendar has such an eclectic mix of programs that it includes operas, musicals, dance dramas - almost everything except a rock concert.