Classic tale of revenge still fascinates

Known as China's Hamlet, The Orphan of Zhao, which is a story of revenge, is one of the country's most famous tales. Written by Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) dramatist Ji Junxiang, it was one of the first Chinese plays to be translated for Western audiences.

The story has been adapted into many art forms, such as a Chinese movie, Sacrifice, by director Chen Kaige, and an English play titled The Orphan of Zhao by the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Now, Beijing People's Art Theatre is going to present a new version of the tale, which, directed by He Bing and featuring 17 young actors and actresses of the theater, will be staged in the capital from May 20 to June 5.

The new play, titled The Orphan of Zhao, is based on the theater's 2003 version of the story, which was directed by Lin Zhaohua, who played one of the leading roles, Cheng Ying.

"It has been 20 years, and the experience of performing in the play and working with Lin still feels fresh to me," says He. "I had never played in any theatrical productions like it. The play was very dreamy, glamorous and deep. Now, as a director myself, I want to share my experience and knowledge about The Orphan of Zhao with a younger audience. But this new play is nothing like the 2003 version, though we use the same script written by Jin Haishu." The Orphan of Zhao is He's directorial debut with the theater.

The play opens with Tu'an Gu, a favorite general of the emperor, framing and killing Zhao Dun, a political rival. Tu'an also slaughters most members of the Zhao family. Because Zhao's daughter-in-law, Princess Zhuangji, is pregnant, she is the only one spared. After she gives birth to a son, the general tries to kill the baby, but Cheng Ying, a family friend and physician, smuggles the newborn away. The princess commits suicide to ensure the secrecy of the orphan's whereabouts. To save the orphan, Cheng sacrifices his own newborn son.

Tu'an later takes Cheng and his wife as his proteges, and adopts their son — the orphan of Zhao — as his own. Sixteen years later, the orphan, now an adult, learns the truth about his identity and his family from Cheng and he has to make a choice.

"The play talks about the universal significance of justice and honesty and most importantly, love. We spent a long time working together to discuss the script. As an orphan, he is raised as a seed for revenge by Cheng Ying. But he is also an individual, who has his own ideas. It has been 16 years and could the hatred be gone already?" says He, who didn't reveal the ending of the new play.

According to Feng Yuanzheng, president of the theater, who is also a veteran actor, the idea of adapting the classic Chinese story into a new play started from the annual evaluation of the theater's young actors and actresses, who were assigned to submit their adaptations of classic scenes from the theater's plays.

Two young actors, Jin Han and Zhou Shuai, worked on performing one scene from The Orphan of Zhao.

"They were loyal to the original script of the play, but they displayed their own interpretation. As a result, we decided to make a new play based on the classic tale," says Feng, adding that the play will be staged at the theater's new building, Beijing International Theatre Center.

"By gathering the 17 young actors and actresses, the audience will see the new talent that will play a key role in the theater's future development," Feng adds, mentioning that the theater will see about 20 artists retire over the next two years, which will bring a period of transition.

"We didn't expect that our homework would be developed into a complete play," says Jin, who plays the role of Cheng in the new version of The Orphan of Zhao.

"The life of one child is sacrificed to save the life of another. It is very hard for me to understand and I discussed it with the director and other performers during the rehearsals," says Jin. "For the audience, they will get their own answers."

Jin and Zhou, both 34, were classmates when they were trained to become actors at the Central Academy of Drama. Both of them joined Beijing People's Art Theatre after graduation in 2011.

"From the outside, it's a tragic story about revenge, but what the audience will see and feel is love," says Zhou, who plays the role of Tu'an in the new play.