Actors perform scenes from three of the winning scripts of a recent original scriptwriting competition Papa From Mars.[Photo provided to China Daily]

And the young writer shows passion in sharing his ideas with future audiences.

"It's an exciting process for me to develop an idea into a script, which could be created and performed as a play or a film, and watched by many people in theaters or on the big screen," Cheng says. "I was alone when I was writing, however, when the story came alive, I loved having people discuss it and share their own ideas."

Among the 10 chosen works, Baba Laizi Huoxing (Papa From Mars) is the only script aimed at children. Combining physical theater and puppets, the story, written by Pan Ruijie, tells of a dying father with leukemia, who convinces his 6-year-old son that he is from Mars and will have to leave to save people who are in danger.

The father tells the son: "I might become an animal or a piece of furniture, because I use my special ability to save people. Don't worry if you cannot see me. I am always your dad no matter what I become."

Pan brings up the issue of life and death in his work. "It is challenging to deal with death in a children's play, but I wanted to give it a try," says Pan, a teacher at Guangxi University, who graduated from Yunnan Arts University and once worked with the provincial drama theater in Yunnan. "For both children and adults, we need to be brave and maintain hope when bad things happen," he adds.