Play gives insight into world of the blind

A stage version of writer Bi Feiyu's award-winning novel Tuina, or Massage, is on at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing until Sept 14. Provided to China Daily

In the world of the blind, trust is hard to build and incredibly easy to lose. A trivial mistake, which would be of no consequence to sighted people, could cause the visually impaired a devastating crush of inner peace and a sudden collapse of intimacy.

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That's what writer Bi Feiyu's Mao Dun Award-winning novel Tuina, or Massage, explores. In the tangle of relationships in a massage house, blind masseurs try to find love, power and dignity, only to find their lives an unorthodox challenge.

The dramatic tension of the novel has attracted many directors to adapt the story for stage and screen. A TV serial of the same name has just finished screening. A movie by avant-garde director Lou Ye is underway. Now a stage play is set to tackle the work.

"TV serials and movies are better at visualizing a life with lots of details. But the traditional charm of stage is to amplify the emotions and resonate with the audience in an overwhelming way," says the play's director Guo Xiaonan.

A stage version of writer Bi Feiyu's award-winning novel Tuina, or Massage, is on at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing until Sept 14. Provided to China Daily

Having directed a Chinese opera version of Junichiro Tanizaki's A Portrait of Shunkin and with a play about blind artist Abing high on his agenda, Guo says he is no stranger to directing blind scenes. But it's still a challenge for him to direct nearly a full cast of blind characters.