"There are many jokes in the world that you listen to with tears in your eyes," says writer Liu Zhenyun, when asked what Laughter and Tears: A Novel is about.

Published in 2021, it's the story of a fairy named Hua Erniang, who loves jokes and seeks to learn new ones. For more than 3,000 years, she has been searching for jokes in people's dreams. With the laughter, the fairy also tastes the sadness of everyday, messy lives.

In 2024, the novel was adapted into a play, One Day Three Autumns. Directed by Ding Yiteng and starring dancer-actress Tang Shiyi in the lead role, it premiered in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, and then toured nationally.

As part of the NCPA International Theatre Festival 2024, One Day Three Autumns will be staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Wednesday and Thursday.

According to Li Yangduo, its producer and founder of Beijing's Drum Tower West Theatre, the play is one of three produced by her theater company that are collectively known as the "Liu Zhenyun theatre trilogy".

"The novel combines elements of introspection with a broader social critique, making it both a meditation on individual lives, and a commentary on the larger societal forces at play in contemporary China," Li said at the national center on Nov 25.

"When we decided to adapt the novel, we visited Liu's hometown of Yanjin county, Xinxiang, in Henan province, and learned about his writing process," she adds.

"Many seemingly humorous or lighthearted stories actually contain deep, underlying pain or sorrow. The novel reflects the complexity of human emotions and experiences, where laughter sometimes serves as a mask for grief, struggle or hardship. These 'jokes' might be born out of difficult situations, making them bittersweet, or even heart-wrenching upon reflection."

Her company has adapted two other novels by Liu since 2018: One Sentence Worth Ten Thousand (from the novel Someone to Talk To) and I Am Not Madame Bovary (from the novel I Didn't Kill My Husband), according to Li.

The 66-year-old writer says that he set Laughter and Tears: A Novel against the backdrop of Yanjin county. It begins with Liushu, a former musician in a Yuju Opera troupe, who later turns to making a living from painting Yanjin's people and scenery after the troupe disbands.

"I told a story that combines myth with reality. There are characters from real life and characters from fairy tales," Liu said at the national center on Nov 25. "It's not easy to turn a novel into a play. They are two totally different ways of telling stories. With One Sentence Worth Ten Thousand and I Am Not Madame Bovary, I saw talented young people transform my novels into plays. This third adaptation exceeded my expectations."

Liu says that nowadays, people are so preoccupied with social media, especially short videos, that he finds it surprising that so many are still coming to the theater to watch plays.

"I believe that theater has a magic that cannot be replaced. For the audience, the experience of watching a play in the theater lets them see things they usually cannot," says Liu, whose books are known for their poetic, reflective style, and often blend humor with a deep sense of melancholy.

"Theater has the power to reveal deeper truths, hidden emotions, and aspects of life that are not always visible in everyday life. Through performance, storytelling and the emotions conveyed, people can gain new insights and perspectives that they might not typically encounter in their daily routine," Liu adds.

For the upcoming shows, director Ding has invited his longtime friend, Chilean director Carolina Pizarro, to devise her own version of the play. The pair met about 10 years ago when they worked together at the Odin Teatret theater group in Denmark.

Pizarro says that she read the novel first, before reading the script and watching the play.

"Surprisingly, I found that it connects deeply with my country, especially with its themes of tears and laughter. My father always makes jokes when we go through difficult times. It's a way of dealing with struggles," Pizarro says.

"For my version, we added more jokes and moments of laughter. We didn't just follow the story of one character; instead, we wanted to highlight the community," she adds.

Pizarro also incorporated more flashbacks into the story, with two characters — Liushu, the painter, and Laodong, a blind fortune teller — serving as the play's narrators.

She adds that there are many dreamlike moments in the play, where an abstract, fantasy world is combined with the real world.

"Empathy is what we want from the audience. We want to make them think and reflect on their own lives," she says.

Songwriter Xiaohe wrote the soundtrack for the play. He visited Yanjin twice with the creative team for inspiration and did a little research. The trips enabled him to immerse himself in Yanjin's folk music, and his song, Lullaby, was performed by an elderly woman and children from the county.

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