Popular play 'The Village' returns to the Chinese mainland for eighth run

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By Zhang Yue and Yang Ran

"The Village", a play by famous Taiwan playwright and director Stan Lai and television producer Wang Wei-chung, has returned to the Chinese mainland for its eighth run. It's being staged at the Theatre Above in downtown Shanghai.

Based on a popular coming-of-age drama series by Wang, the play tells the story of the people who retreated from the Chinese mainland to the island region of Taiwan in 1949.

At that time, hundreds of so-called "dependent villages" were built in several locations on the island to temporarily house almost two million of them, who had expected to return to the mainland in a few years. But years passed, and they had ended up raising families within the confines of these villages.

"The Village" returns to the mainland for eighth run. /CFP Photo

"The Village" debuted in 2008 and has been staged 217 times around the world. It gives performance tours to the mainland every year.

"It's a very, very sad story and it's a very heroic story, but it happens on all these normal people every day," Lai explained.

Director Stan Lai /CFP Photo

The three-and-a-half hour play spans decades, following the characters from 1949 to 2006. Lead actor Qu Zhongheng said it was difficult doing the scenes because they didn't fully understand the message.

"Even on the day of the premiere we were still confused about the hidden meaning behind each scene. But after the debut, we suddenly understood everything," said Qu.

After Shanghai, the play will be staged in Shenzhen, Chongqing and Zhuhai.

1071km

After its run in Shanghai ends,