Adapted from a work by UK playwright Harold Pinter, The Lover examines a union that has lost its zest, Chen Nan reports.

The actress and actor pose for a photo at a news conference for the play in Beijing on Tuesday. (JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY)

Chinese play, The Lover, adapted from a one-act play of the same name by British playwright Harold Pinter, is being staged at Beijing People's Art Theater until Dec 12.

The established Chinese theater adapted the play for the first time in 2004 and, since then, it has staged three different versions of the play, which were enthusiastically received by audiences.

The new version is directed by Xu Ang and feature veteran actors and actresses, including Jing Hao and Lu Fang.

Like much of Pinter's work, the play shines a harsh spotlight on convention and is a tribute to female durability. The transformation from dutiful wife to predatory female is fascinating.

According to Feng Yuanzheng, a renowned actor who is also the vice-president of the Beijing People's Art Theater, The Lover will be the first play to be staged in the theater after its temporary closure due to a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Actress Lu Fang and actor Jing Hao rehearse The Lover. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Pinter, a Nobel Prize laureate in literature, wrote The Lover in 1962.It follows a couple, Richard and Sarah, who live in the countryside near Windsor, southeastern England. To spice up their otherwise boring relationship, they each decide to take a lover. There are no secrets between the couple and they appear to accept each other's betrayal as the story hurtles to an unexpected end.

"I read the script when I was in university and I didn't understand it at all. I read it over and over again and still I didn't get it," recalls Xu, 44, a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama's directing major. "I was too young and didn't have much experience of relationships, but I was impressed by the playwright's witty language."

In 2001, he started to work with Beijing People's Art Theater both as an actor and as a director.

"Now, in my 40s, I know about marriage, which helps me to better understand the script and to present it onstage with depth," Xu says.

Actress Lu Fang and actor Jing Hao rehearse The Lover. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

This new version has a very simple stage set. The director, who is also in the lighting team, also decided to use scene lighting, such as desk lamps and bedroom lights, to replace stage lights, to create a sense of intimacy in the theater.

On the stage, there is only a man and a woman: Richard and Sarah.

"Their lovers only exist in their conversations, which makes the whole play like a game, a game between the couple," says Xu. "The audience, like spectators, pry into the couple's private lives, learning about their affairs behind closed doors and unlocking the couple's desires.

"There is no judgment. We just put an ordinary couple onstage, unveiling their problems and hopefully inspiring the audience, the members of which may reflect upon their own lives," Xu says.

Veteran actress Lu will play the role of Sarah, a housewife, whose lover calls her at home whenever Richard goes to work in the city. Her lover is a striking contrast to her husband, who is rather staid.

The production crew of The Lover, including director Xu Ang (second from right), strikes a confident pose during a news conference at Beijing People's Art Theater in Beijing on Tuesday. (JIANG DONG / CHINA DAILY)

Actor Jing plays the role of Richard, a respectable businessman who is devoted to his work. He also has a fling and is aware of his wife's affairs.

"We are good friends in real life and it's quite interesting to do this play, which explores love and marriage," says Lu, who is known for her roles in Chinese plays, including Antigone based on the Greek tragedy with the same title and The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, adapted from Shakespeare's classic play of the same title, also directed by Li.

"It's the right time for us to make this play because we've experienced marriage and learned from it. We understand the characters in the play and we have our own interpretations," Lu adds.

Besides The Lover, Beijing People's Art Theater will stage Chinese plays Li Bai and The Wilderness in December, both of which were previously postponed due to the pandemic.

Contact the writer at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn