MASTER ROLE: Pu Cunxin (front left), Vice President of Beijing People's Art Theatre and renowned theater actor, performs in a drama titled Li Bai (WU JINGTENG)

Innovation

"Even today, when we play a role, we think of how Mr. Yu and his fellow actors would deal with this character if they were still here," said Pu Cunxin, a popular actor starring in the coming Jia Zi Yuan and the revival of Teahouse, in an interview with Beijing Review. Pu is also vice president of BPAT.

In 2005, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Jiao's birth, the theater once again performed Teahouse. It was the first time the theater presented the classic drama since Yu bid farewell to the stage in 1991.

Pursuing innovation onstage while upholding the essence of the past has always been a principle of the theater.

"While we try to stay true to the original, we also want to make today's audience relate to the story. We want to surpass previous performances to revitalize the traditional drama. This is the best inheritance," said Lin Zhaohua, director of the new edition of Teahouse.

Several years ago, in fact, then Vice President Yu suggested that Lin re-release Teahouse and approved of his fresh approach to the story.

Lin has been regarded as a pioneer in theatrical innovation. In September of 1982, he directed a breakthrough play called Jue Dui Xin Hao (Signals). The storyline itself was not novel: It tells the story of passengers on a train hijacked by robbers.

To express the psychological experiences of the characters, Lin used a stream of consciousness style, a technique popular in the West but still new in China at that time. The timeline of the play alternated between the actual time and space and the characters' mental time and space. The drama also tackled the controversial topic of unemployment and the "lost" younger generation.

The play's debut was met with tepid reviews, but Yu and other elder artists supported the then 46-year-old Lin's direction. The play went on to become a major success.

Following the play's 100th performance, Cao sent Lin a congratulatory message, praising him as the "pride of BPAT." His reputation as a maverick, however, lives on even to today. At 76 years old, Lin is still producing innovative new plays.

Lin's fearless approach to the stage has garnered support both inside and out of BPAT.

"We should strive to evolve while building BPAT as a world-class theater with a solid academic influence," said Zhang, President of BPAT at the celebration of its 60th anniversary.

Email us at: tangyuankai@bjreview.com