Li Zhuoqun. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"The audience follows the husband's memories but suddenly, the music stops, which pulls both the husband and the audience back to reality," Bai says. "Only in small theaters can that kind of intimacy between actors and audiences be created."

Bai, who graduated from Central Academy of Drama with a PhD in directing in 2003, directed her first Peking Opera show, Six Records of a Floating Life, for small theaters in 2008.

Based on the memoir by the Chinese writer Shen Fu from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Peking Opera production, Six Records of a Floating Life, follows Shen's memories about his dead wife.

"Traditional Peking Opera shows portray romance against the backdrop of wars or linked with the survival of a nation," Bai says. "Six Records of a Floating Life depicts love between husband and wife, which is not commonly seen."