A life-and-death story

[Photo/China Daily]

Meng Jinghui's avant-garde stage adaptation of Yu Hua's representative novel To Live is touring Guangdong province and will run in Guangzhou Nov 2-4.

The three-hour play closely follows the original story about the tragic life of Fugui, who helplessly faced the death of his parents, wife and children in the turmoil China faced from the late 1920s to the 1960s. Fugui is regarded as a symbol for the suffering of the nation.

Meng's experimental stage setting enhances the play's appeal. There are several 1-meter-deep ditches on the stage that serve as trenches, farmland ridges, classroom tables and even tombs.

Zhang Yimou made a namesake movie based on the novel in 1994 and won the Grand Jury Prize at that year's Cannes Film Festival.

8 pm, Nov 2-4. Friendship Theater, 696 Renmin Beilu, Yuexiu district. 020-8666-8991.