The See-saw Tree, adapted from the classic drama by celebrated British playwright David Wood, will debut at the China National Theater for Children on Saturday. The theater's last new drama of 2018 is being presented as a New Year gift for children.
The production is a joint effort by artistes from China and Britain.
British dramatist Adam Stafford and Chinese director Mao Ernan have collaborated in directing the play, which though sticking with the original flavor, has some local differences.
A scene from "The See-saw Tree.” /Photo provided to CGTN
“There are quite a few differences," Stafford said. "This is an original production that I'm asked to direct here. But we stick very closely to Mr. Wood's script. And it's lovely for me to be invited here to China to do this production. And they asked specifically that we could make it very English. So I've tried to keep to the script. The set is a new design. Mr. Shen who is a wonderful set designer here, new costumes from Mr. Wen, but he has very English flavor. And I hope the style will be something new for the Chinese children.”
In discussing whether to cut down a 300-year-old oak to give way to a children's playground, the drama tries to promote the young audience's awareness of environmental protection.
Vivid performances plus close interaction with the audience draws the drama closer to fans who can also participate by voting on the final decision.
Another scene from "The See-saw Tree.” /Photo provided to CGTN
Wood, who was once called "the national children's dramatist" by The Times newspaper, is also in Beijing for the show. He recalled what had pushed him into writing such a story.
“The story started when I was asked to write about a tree," he said. "And it was an environmental organization in England who said it was going to be the Year of the Tree. So I thought about a tree in danger that might be cut down to make way for a children's playground. What I hope it does is to encourage them to feel about the environment, but also to see through the creatures on the tree that by coming together to help themselves to try and save themselves, or the different creatures who sometimes argue and sometimes don't get along with each other. They pull together for the main course which is to save the tree. And at the end hopefully, everything is happily resolved.”
The See-saw Tree will run until New Year's Day.