A theatrical version of “White Deer Plain,” adapted from Chen Zhongshi’s 1993 novel of the same name and a script by Meng Bing, will be staged at the Pingshan Theater later this month.
Presented by the Shaanxi People’s Art Theater, the play, directed by Hu Zongqi, portrays the hardships of three generations of two families living on the White Deer Plain in Shaanxi Province spanning from the early 1900s to the 1980s. “It is about land and the conflicts between the elderly who want to hold on to traditional values and younger people looking to embrace newer ideas,” says Li Xuan, a director of the theater. The play, debuted in 2016, was well received by audience members for having an authentic Shaanxi regional flavor.
Scenes from Shaanxi People’s Art Theater’s “White Deer Plain.” File photos
Since its publication, the novel has been adapted for a variety of media. As the winner of China’s top literary honor, the Mao Dun Literature Prize, the novel has been hailed by critics as a must-read for those who seek a deeper understanding of the country. Given that it is a 500,000-character novel, it has been hard to adapt this work for the stage. This new script, based on the 2006 version used by the Beijing People’s Art Theater, makes some changes in content and structure. For example, it utilizes conversations from villagers as background narrative to control the tempo on stage.
“The length and plot have been compressed to highlight the changes to the main thread, showing the intense conflicts, presenting a sense of history, and bringing each character on the stage to life,” said Meng, who was also the playwright for the 2006 version of “White Deer Plain.”
Although the cast of the Shaanxi People’s Art Theater version is not made up of big names, most of them are Shaanxi residents who can speak the dialect, giving the play an authentic Shaanxi flavor. In addition, the elaborate scene designs, such as ancestral halls, traditional Shaanxi cave houses and haystacks, combined with the ambience of Shaanxi-accent operas, immerse the audience in the historical epic of “White Deer Plain.”
The performance has attracted a lot of attention from local theater circles in Beijing, Tianjin and Xi’an in 2016 and has been welcomed by audience members, receiving positive reviews for its emotional power.
Time: 7:30 p.m., Aug. 29-30
Tickets: 80-880 yuan (Tickets can be purchased on the theater’s WeChat account “坪山大剧院”)
Venue: Pingshan Theater, Hekang Road, Pingshan District (坪山区荷康路坪山大剧院)
Transport: Take the high-speed rail from Futian Station or Shenzhen North Station to Pingshan Station and then take a taxi