China News Service, Beijing, September 26 (Reporter Gao Kai) Beijing People's Art Theater's 2026 new play "Thrush" recently opened at the Beijing International Drama Center People's Art Theater. The play is artistically directed by Feng Yuanzheng and directed by Yang Jiayin. It uses "talking about the past" as its starting point and breaks out of the traditional historical drama paradigm. When the audience walks into the theater holding a nostalgic instruction manual that replicates the texture of a comic book, several narrators use the life trajectory of the famous Warring States general Wu Qi as a guide to slowly open a historical dialogue that spans thousands of years.
Performance stills. Photo by Li Chunguang
"Thrush" is written by Yuan Bin and debuted on the Beijing People's Art Stage in 2015. The original work is based on the classic allusion of Wu Qi's "killing his wife and worshiping his general" as the core, relying on the records of "Historical Records" to carry out artistic reconstruction, and deeply explore the eternal propositions of human nature, choice and fame. In this revival, the creative team has comprehensively refined and upgraded the text: not only adding a "narrator" role from a modern perspective, using onlookers' comments to connect the plot, broadening the narrative dimension, but also refining the ending to make the story expression more in line with the aesthetic orientation and thinking habits of contemporary audiences.
"Ten years ago, we focused more on interpreting and restoring history, but now we examine history from a current perspective, leaving more space for the audience to think." Feng Yuanzheng said frankly that the new version of "Thrush" has greatly expanded the boundaries of expression based on the original work. Through character adjustments and overall arrangement optimization, it leaves more "blank space" for the work, allowing the audience to independently judge historical figures and understand the profound meaning of history.
Director Yang Jiayin also said that "Thrush" is by no means a simple historical narrative drama, but carries diverse creative intentions: "Beijing People's Art Theater has always had a fine tradition of rehearsing historical dramas, and we have been exploring and moving forward on this road. History is a mirror that reflects reality, and can reflect untouched corners of life, and this version of "Thrush" is precisely to salvage the tenderness hidden in the gaps in history."
Performance stills. Photo by Li Chunguang
The mottled bronze mirrors and the stage full of clothes are the identity metaphor throughout the play, becoming the most distinctive stage beauty highlight of the new version of "Thrush". The stage design uses symbolic expression to profoundly interpret the coercion and distortion of "identity" on "human nature", making the visual language deeply consistent with the core of the plot.
"The core of a drama is always about writing about people and their relationships. This play only has seven characters, but it has to weave a web of the times through the relationships between the characters, tearing apart a corner of history to get a glimpse of the whole picture. This is the difficulty and core of the creation." Yang Jiayin said that the stage design perfectly fits the original intention of the creation, allowing the expression of imagery and the narrative of the characters to complement each other.
It is reported that the drama "Thrush" will span the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays and continue to be performed until October 11.
