[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

7 Theater production

The National Theater of China bought the copyright of the play War Horse from the National Theatre of Great Britain to produce a Chinese version of the play. The Chinese production ran for about two months in Beijing, and is now running in Shanghai through Jan 17. It will tour Guangzhou from March 8 to May 3.

The biggest challenge in the play is coming to grips with the horse puppet.

It takes three actors to manipulate the 2.4-meter-high horse, weighing 54 kilograms.

The Chinese version of the play is the fourth-language edition of the work, which has been staged in English, German and Dutch.

As the puppet is created by the Handspring Puppet Company of South Africa, Chinese and African actors performed the play for China's President Xi Jinping and dozens of African leaders in Johannesburg when they were in South Africa in December.

Besides War Horse, the National Theatre of Britain also brought its NT Live broadcasting program to China as part of the 2015 UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange. A total of 10 shows were staged in Beijing and Shanghai, including Of Mice and Men, Coriolanus, Frankenstein, Skylight and The Audience.