Sister Jiang, a revolutionary opera adapted from the novel Red Crag in the 1960s, will be staged at China's futuristic National Grand Theater for six nights until October 6 as one of its first test shows.

The opera continues to resonate with the public despite social changes over the last three decades involving China's reform and opening up that have seen it rewritten four times.

The Art Troupe of the Air Force Political Department has been working on the fifth version since June. Wang Li, who will play the heroine, and two other leading actors, are all gold or silver medal winners at the national singing contest hosted by the China Central Television Station.

"The starring actors all received a good education in the arts at college, so they should sing better than their precursors in previous editions," said playwright Yan Su.

The latest version of the "red opera" is the most youthful one, claims composer Yang Ming.

The new theater's opera house, which will stage the show, got a test run on Thursday before an audience of construction workers.

(China Daily October 2, 2007)