The mainland version of the Classic Chinese stage drama The Peach Blossom Land will be staged in Beijing on November 18th at the Capital Theater.

The drama is being jointly launched by the National Theater Company of China, the Performance Workshop, and pre-eminent theater groups in Taiwan.

A stellar cast will set the stage ablaze including top drama actor Huang Lei, actress Yuan Quan, as well as TV hosts Xie Na and He Qiong.

First staged 20 years ago in Taiwan by the Performance Workshop, the drama was then adapted to the big screen.

Reviving the classic Chinese story of two theater groups that are double-booked and end up rehearsing their plays on the same stage, the play highlights one group performing a tragedy, while the other rehearses a farcical piece.

Under the skilled direction of Stan Lai, the show combines tragic-comic elements that stretch the limits of their actors' remarkable abilities by combining melodrama, verbal comedy and slapstick.

The show at the Capital Theater will last till November 26th and then travel to the Shanghai Theater to run from the 8th to the 13th of December.

A double-week New Year's run will return to Beijing at the PLA Opera Theater, starting from December 22nd before touring Hong Kong and Singapore.

(CRI.com November 9, 2006)