Art beat ... finger on the pulse

Musical

Star still shines

Set against the 1929 British silent movie classic Piccadilly, Piccadilly Revisited celebrates the life and love of Anna May Wong - Hollywood's first Chinese film star - through contemporary music performance.

Piccadilly Revisited uses the story of Wong's character, Shosho, as a metaphor for Wong's real life. It aims to liberate Wong from being pigeonholed and enable audiences to rediscover her artistry and legacy.

Wong appeared in more than 50 US and European films, making her the first global Chinese-American movie star.

But she says she experienced racism in her career and became frustrated with the stereotypical "Oriental" roles she was given.

She died from a heart attack at age 56 in 1961, after a long struggle with liver cirrhosis.

"Wong was a real style icon - the Lady Gaga of her day," the show's co-writer and director David Tse Ka-Shing says.

"But she was also stifled by her public persona. Her experience raises important questions about diversity and integration that are still relevant to British East Asian artists today."

7:30 pm, April 21 and 22. Broadway Cinematheque Moma, F3, Building T4, The North Area, Moma, 1 Xiangheyuan Road, Beijing. 010-8438-8202.

Workshop

Unmasking masks

To experience how actors make use of a mask to speak to audiences, join "A Moment Across the Stage - Mask Theater Workshop.

French artist Claude Roche, who has been involved in mask theater for more than 40 years, will usher you into the world of disguise. He has created some 30 plays performed by actors in masks in the United States and France. He has also borrowed elements from China.

This course is not about picking up the technical aspects of mask making. Instead, it is about using one's imagination to experience how it feels to be behind a mask when onstage and exploring stage space.

In French with Chinese translation.

10 am-5 pm, April 21-22. Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), La Suite, 798 Art Zone, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang district, Beijing. 010-5780-0200.

Quick Pick

In honor of a leader

The Beijing Museum of the Confucius Temple and the Imperial Academy is staging a group exhibition for artists from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The show is organized by the two countries' culture ministries. It displays more than 50 Korean colored ink paintings, embroideries, posters and prints that celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.

9 am-4:30 pm, until April 20. 13-15 Guozijian Street, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-8401-1977.