Chinese stage drama reviving

The president of Beijing People's Art Theatre has been busy preparing a performance schedule for this year. Zhang Heping says 2009 was a breakthrough year for the theatre, known as Renyi.

2009 saw a successful combination of art creation and marketing. The Beijing People's Art Theatre original "Wotou Compound" premiered last September and starred Song Dandan, Xu Fan, He Bing, Pu Cunxin and Yang Lixin.

The drama was staged 63 times last year and created a box office record of 18 million yuan, or 2.5 million US Dollars. It was regarded as the revival of Renyi's reputed modern classic drama.

Still of drama "Wotou Compound"

Zhang Heping, president of Beijing People's Art Theatre, said, "An excellent script is a calling to excellent actors. We are able to present A-list cast dramas as long as we have got finer plays."

Over the past 50 years, Renyi has been famed for choosing play-books.

Ten dramatists including Su Shuyang, Liu Heng and Zou Jingzhi have now been appointed as the theatre's "honorary playwrights".

Zhang Heping said, "The commission is a commitment and gratitude to the dramatists. Also it is a access to attract more scholars and playwrights to write for Renyi."

"Drama is prior" is the slogan hanging on the theatre's rehearsal room wall. For more than half a century, Renyi's actors have lived by it. They are dedicated to presenting dramas that are popular today but still able to be handed down to the next generation.