A softer focus

Stage director takes a famous warriors' tale, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and gives the roles to women.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a 14th-century novel based on the history of Three Kingdoms period (AD 220-280), has been regarded as a men's book. The main characters are the male warriors and strategists who battled in blood and brains seeking to rule over the whole country. Hong Kong stage director Edward Lam overturns people's stereotypes in his adaptation of the novel. The 13 main characters are played by actresses dressed in modern school uniforms. The scene is set in a classroom instead of the battlefield. Each of the play's 12 acts is a history lesson in which students put on a play to reinterpret the novel.

The theater adaptation of the Chinese classical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms is set in a modern classroom and explores people's desire for success. Photos provided to china daily

This is Lam's third production since 2006 that is adapted from China's Four Great Classical Novels. He thinks it's boring to reproduce the historical tales onstage with resplendent settings and ancient costumes.

"I assign a question to each play to connect these classical tales to today's society. Looking for answers, the audience will be easily drawn into the play and feel fulfilled after watching a show that is thought-provoking," Lam explains.

What is success? This is the question Lam has assigned to his latest adaptation. "People nowadays are desperate for success, which can be seen in the overflow of talent shows on TV. They seek attention to feel that they are important and successful," Lam says.