Story set in rural Shaanxi ready to hit Beijing's stages soon

White Deer Plain, produced by Shaanxi People's Art Theater, is touring Beijing in March.[Photo provided to China Daily]

"I have written nearly 100 scripts for TV series, films and plays. Among all the works, I wrote stories based on people of Shaanxi province most, around 10 scripts so far," the veteran scriptwriter adds.

Meng stayed in the province's countryside for weeks while working on his script, trying his hand at farming and eating noodles with the local people. By doing so he understood the deep connection that exists between farmers and their land.

A highlight of the latest play is the music, which including elements from Shaanxi's Qinqiang Opera.

Singers and instrumentalists from Huayin county, which is famed for Qinqiang Opera, had participated in the debut show in Xi'an and are expected this month in Beijing, too.

Unlike their high-pitched performances at the 2016 CCTV Spring Festival Gala, which was among the country's most watched TV shows, the Qinqiang Opera artists display deeper and softer voices in the play.

Its music composer Zhao Xiaodan says he read the novel many times before making the music.

"There are more than 20 major characters in it and some 50 years are covered," he says of the book. "The function of the music is to help convey emotions of people - not just the characters but also the audiences."

The version produced by Shaanxi People's Art Theater also impressed the audiences with its stage sets, reflective of real-life Shaanxi society. Huang Kaifu, who designed the sets, drew inspiration from the province's Folk Art Museum, where he saw relics of Qing architecture, such as courtyards and decorations.

The patterns on doors and sizes of noodle bowls were recreated by him to look similar to Qing-era objects.

According to Li Xuan, the director of Shaanxi People's Art Theater, she and her colleagues had been thinking of turning the novel into a play for long.

"It is about land and the conflicts between the elderly who want to hold on to traditional values and younger people looking to embrace newer ideas," says Li.

She sees the story as "timeless".

If you go

7:30 pm, March 11-13. China Theater, 16 Xisanhuan North Road, Haidian district, Beijing. 400-610-3721.

7:30 pm, March 18-20. Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center, 9 Tianqiao South Street, Xicheng district, Beijing. 400-635-3355.