------"Starting From Scratch" on stage

Source: CCTV.com

11-10-2008 10:49

In 2007, television series "Starting From Scratch", focusing on a group of university graduates, their feelings and struggles became popular overnight. This month a stage play of the same name comes to Beijing's Poly Theatre. The stage adaptation has been eagerly embraced by fans of the popular tv series, who are ready for more. We'll talk about the stage version on today's Spotlight.

Still of "Starting From Scratch"
Poster of "Starting From Scratch"

At the opening performance of the Beijing International Drama and Dance Festival, the play "Starting From Scratch" got a lot of attention. Both the stage version and the earlier TV version are adaptations of the earlier novel by Beijing based writer Shi Kang. The original novel is considered iconic for people born in the 1980's" a sort of "war cry of youth." In the novel the lives of young people are vividly depicted.

Director Zhao Baogang put the story on television in 2007. The 32-episode TV series recounted the emotional lives and career struggles of six college graduates. The plots blend in elements of anxiety, confusion and even infantilism, in discussing today's youngsters, their attitudes toward life, love and career. The TV series had the highest audience of any program last year. The leading characters Lu Tao, Mi Lai and Xia Lin have become icons in themselves as representatives of today's youth.

The stage version maintains the principal theme of the novel. The director is one of the best known on the Chinese mainland stage, Tian Youliang. He's the creator of the most successful commercial drama series ever, "Fried Dough Twist." Tian is an accomplished master of art and business. The man who oversaw the stage effects for the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games, Han Lixun also contributes his expertise.

Still of "Starting From Scratch"
Still of "Starting From Scratch"

All of the actors in the drama are idols born in the 1980s. Compared to the TV series, the stage version places greater emphasis on depicting the emotions of the key characters.