Feature: Chinese drama "True Friends" a success at Alexandrinsky theater festival

ST. PETERSBURG, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese historical drama "True Friends", staged by the Beijing People's Art Theater, became a hit as the final play of the Alexandrinsky International Theater Festival in St. Petersburg on Sunday.

"True Friends" was chosen from a total of eight plays to become the closing show by the art-director of the Alexandrinsky Theater Valery Fokin, according to the Chinese drama's director Ren Ming. The theater thus became the 60th place where the drama had been staged.

"True Friends" actor Feng Yuanzhen noted that the foreign version of the show was slightly enriched with new "Asian-style" details, making the ancient story more exotic and modern.

The Chinese drama tells a story of Chinese poet Gu Zhenguan who tried to save his unfairly accused friend Zhao Qian.

Feng, on his stage debut in Russia, was glad that this performance could attract the attention of the Russian audience to the Chinese theater art.

Anna, a Russian university lecturer, told Xinhua that she had never seen any Chinese drama before. At the beginning, the play seemed very exotic, but the acting charmed her.

Boris, a theater musician, said he still couldn't completely understand the Chinese theater art, but in the technical aspect the show was flawless.

Maria, another spectator, praised the quality of the translation. "It's not only a very consistent translation, it also conveys a sense and emotions of the original text," she said.

In 2014, "Our Jing Ke" produced by the Beijing People's Art Theater became a great success in St. Petersburg. Last year, the Beijing People's Art Theater invited the Alexandrinsky to present the famous comedy "The Government Inspector" in China.

Ren Ming hopes that such exchanges will become a tradition that will promote cultural exchanges and dialogue between China and Russia.

The Annual Alexandrinsky International Theater Festival, hosted by the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, promotes the art of national theaters from various countries.