Wang Yuanyuan, theater director (R) [Photo provided to China Daily]

Artistic freedom

"Chen was our first choice for the role after we decided to stage The Lady from the Sea," says Wang Yuanyuan, the director, who has known Chen for long. "As an actress, she is versatile and doesn't set limits for herself."

As the founder and director of Beijing Dance Theater, which is China's premier contemporary dance troupe, Wang has choreographed dance pieces based on classic literary works, including Wild Grass, based on Lu Xun's 1927 prose poem collection, and The Banquet, an adaptation of Hamlet. The Lady from the Sea, however, is Wang's first play as a director.

Wang founded Beijing Dance Theater with veteran lighting director Han Jiang and set designer Tan Shaoyuan in 2008. The same year, she did the choreography for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, collaborating with director Zhang Yimou, with whom she had worked on a ballet version of the Chinese film Raise the Red Lantern in 2001.

The Lady from the Sea is the first play by Beijing Repertory Theater, which was founded by Wang, Han and Tan in June 2017.

"When we founded the dance troupe 10 years ago, we wanted to look for artistic freedom. We have the same wish for Beijing Repertory Theater," says Wang. "The Lady from the Sea, though written in 1888, does not constrain itself with any region or year. It's a play that surpasses any particular time."

The play premiered in Shanghai in September and toured Hangzhou, Nanjing and Beijing last year. It has launched its second national tour and will be staged in Beijing from Jan 31 to Feb 3.

If you go

7:30 pm, Jan 31-Feb 3. National Center for the Performing Arts, 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng district, Beijing. 010-6655-0000.