The story that never ends

Huang Ying, director of the Chinese stage play To Be Continued, loves taking photos of the sky.

"Every time I see the white clouds in the blue sky," he says, "I think of the sky in To Be Continued. It feels like the play itself is still unfolding."

Nearly two decades after its debut, the play is preparing for its 20th anniversary next year — a milestone few contemporary Chinese dramas reach.

From June 10 to 14, To Be Continued will be staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, a testament to its enduring appeal.

Huang, 48, one of China's most accomplished theater directors with more than 50 productions to his name, has collaborated with the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the National Theatre of China, in addition to staging his own works.

Born and raised in Beijing, Huang initially pursued a career in science, earning a bachelor's degree in biochemistry and molecular biology from China Agricultural University. His path shifted after watching Antique, a play directed by Lin Zhaohua of the Beijing People's Art Theater in 1997. "Something about that performance opened my eyes," he recalls. "I realized theater could speak to life in ways science never could."

In 2005, Huang and his friend Wang Cailian, both young aspiring scriptwriters, wandered the hutong near their school, the Central Academy of Drama, unsure of their futures. Wang, preparing for a second attempt at the academy's doctoral entrance exam in scriptwriting, and Huang, working as a teaching intern at the drama academy and the Beijing Film Academy, found themselves asking existential questions.

"When I returned to the dormitory that night, we took a long walk together," Huang remembers. "It was winter, cold and dark. The hutong (alleyways) near Nanluoguxiang were quiet and narrow. We were both in our 20s, thinking about existence, purpose and what makes life meaningful." It was during these conversations that the seed of To Be Continued was planted.

The play tells the story of 28-year-old Molly, who is suddenly confronted by Death. She is told she will die unless she first identifies the single most important thing to take with her; failing to do so would force her to repeatedly relive the last day of her life. Molly embarks on a journey of discovery, grappling with mortality, love and purpose.

The play's structure mirrors its existential themes: minimalist and unadorned. Five actors portray multiple roles in a nearly empty space, with a cappella harmonies as the sole accompaniment. "It's deceptively simple," Huang notes. "The actors carry everything: emotions, pace, rhythm. Every gesture and every note counts."

Since its premiere in 2007, To Be Continued has drawn widespread attention, reaching a milestone 100th performance in 2012.

The play's early productions were shaped by practical constraints. Rehearsals lasted only 21 days, actors wore their own clothes on stage, and props were scavenged from storage boxes or fashioned from old jump ropes. The total budget was no more than 30,000 yuan ($4,434), much of it fronted by Huang himself. Yet, the simplicity became one of the production's hallmarks.

"Early critics called our stage design 'too poor'," Huang laughs. "Now, when the industry is flooded with extravagant sets and over-the-top effects, the authenticity of our modest stage is an advantage. It's like natural medicine compared to cosmetic surgery — it feels real."

Huang's first trip to the United States in 2007, only a month before the premiere of To Be Continued, offered an eye-opening perspective. While visiting Washington, DC, and New York, he observed both classical and contemporary theater, from traditional realism to industrial-scale Broadway musicals.

"Returning to Beijing, I realized that the trip helped me better understand my own approach as a theater director and how to present my ideas with confidence in my homeland's artistic voice," he recalls.

After his trip to the US, he decided to name the play To Be Continued in English and then translated it into Chinese Weiwan Daixu.

The 20th-anniversary edition of To Be Continued next year will blend the original cast with emerging actors, a deliberate attempt to bridge generations.

For Xu Zixuan, the play is no longer just a play. It is a companion that has grown alongside her.

When she was cast as Molly in 2009, Xu was a 21-year-old student at the Beijing Film Academy. It was her first leading role in a full-length stage production. The excitement of stepping onto the stage was mixed with nervousness, but she had no idea that the character would stay with her for the next two decades.

Since then, she has portrayed Molly more than 100 times. The role has followed her from student life into adulthood, through personal milestones and changing perspectives. Looking back, she sees the play as something that has quietly accompanied her through the years.

"After performing it for so long, it's become part of my life," she says. "There are some roles you finish and leave behind. Molly isn't one of them."

In To Be Continued, Death tells Molly her time is up, but she must find one thing that's worth the most to her to take with her.

It is a question that Xu has repeatedly asked herself. "If you could take only one thing with you when you leave this world, what would it be?"

"I've thought about that question many times," she says. "I don't think I would take anything that belongs to someone else, or anyone whose absence would affect another person."

After a moment, she offers her answer. "Maybe a little stone," she says, smiling. "Or a small flower."

"When I first played Molly, I was focused on understanding the character," she says. "Now, I think more about the question she is asking. Every few years, my answer changes a little."

In the rehearsal room, Huang carries his camera everywhere and takes photos of the cast. He says that he has pursued this personal renewal through photography. In 2024, he rediscovered his love for film photography, a discipline that reconnects him with curiosity and counters the "middle-age situation".

For Huang, To Be Continued is a living reflection of his artistic journey and of China's evolving cultural landscape.

"Every rehearsal, every audience reaction, every sky I see reminds me that the story is never finished," he says. "And that's precisely the point."