The fifth Beijing International Drama Festival, in celebration of
the 100th anniversary of Chinese drama, brought down its curtain on
Friday.
As part of the closing ceremony, a performance was put up for a
recurrence to the first modern Chinese drama on Friday night at the
Great Hall of the People.
The drama was originally produced by Chinese students in Japan
in 1907. It's an adaptation of the American slave story Uncle
Tom's Cabin.
In Friday night's version, the performers were all dressed in
black - a mark of respect to those who have contributed to the
development of Chinese drama in the past.
The cast, composed of more than thirty famed artists, included
84-year-old Zhu Lin, who had portrayed the heroine in the 1954
version of Thunderstorm, written by Chinese dramatist Cao
Yu; and 86-year-old Qin Yi, who played Uncle Tom's wife last
night.
This year's drama festival highlighted various aspects of
China's dramatic arts, including musical drama, traditional drama,
Peking Opera, and Yue Opera from Southeast China's Zhejiang
Province.
In the opening ceremony on April 17 a Chinese-language version
of the musical drama I Love You, dubbed 'the most romantic
drama in the history of Broadway', had been staged.
(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2007)
