The last laugh as screwball director bids farewell to National Theater
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For many theatre folk in the capital, the old rehearsal rooms of the National Theater of China (NTC) at Maoer Hutong were witness to the birth of classic drama in Beijing.
Now screwball comedy 24-Hour Store, from the creative Chinese director Tian Qinxin, debuting in the Easter Pioneer Theater on June 15, will be the last cast to see its former glory.
"I'll insist on holding rehearsals here until the performance, as there are lots of memories left here," said Tian, who's just finished historical play Yellow Storm, from a classic story by Lao She.
The NTC moved to its new location on Guang'anmen Street on May 18.
Tian's first comedy claims to be combination of suspense and screwball, a genre of romantic comedy predominant in Hollywood from the mid-1930s to the mid-1940s and characterized by erratic, often ridiculous performances.
"It is different from black comedy; screwball is more warm… although it also shed lights on social problems. You can feel helplessness but also love and laughter," said Tian.
Adapted from the movie Night Store (2009), the production tells the story of a detective's investigation of a diamond robbery.
"One characteristics of us Chinese people is to be optimistic, to force ourselves to forget pain after a night's sleep no matter how bad it is."
Tian auditioned hundreds of drama school talents then trained her picks for a month to meet her standards. She also invited young directors to take part, including Yan Yongqi, an independent from Malaysia.
"Most comedies nowadays are soft and only for entertainment but Tian's work is incisive inside. You rethink after the laughter with more responsibility," said Yan. "You will see those changes in poor peoples' lives, how they become robbers in such a society, where everything is in juxtaposition: rich and poor, intelligent and stupid, honest and dishonest, and, most of all, male and female."
"I want the theater to be rock'n'roll, and the audience to take part in it," Tian has declared.
The drama will run until July 3, except on Mondays.
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