According to Shanghai Daily News (via EastDay.com), the China National Theater will soon be producing Victor Hugo’s play Ninety-Three. Stop by if you’re in town ? and speak Chinese.
From the announcement:
France, 1793 ? It’s the year of guillotine. The architects of the French Revolution have set up the Convention, designed to stem social chaos, and their troops engage in bloody battle with counter-revolutionaries. Ideals topple in the face of political necessity and intrigue becomes a way of life. This is the setting for “Ninety-Three,” French romantic writer Victor Hugo’s last work of fiction. […]
“The theme ? which is played in brilliantly unexpected variations in all the key incidents of the story, and which motivates all the characters and events, integrating them into an inevitable progression toward a magnificent climax ? is man’s loyalty to values,” said Ayn Rand, the well known 20th century American writer. As a literary work, “Ninety-Three” has long been regarded as the grand finale of Romantic literary school, since during the years when Hugo was writing the novel, from 1872 to 1873, the Naturalist school of fiction had already become France’s dominant literary influence
“I read Hugo’s novel to the letter when I started to write this play,” says [Chinese translator and] playwright Cao Lusheng. “It took me more than a year to complete the play, during which time I revisited Hugo’s memorial hall in France.” Cao says that he has been a fan of Hugo since his student days, and holds a particular fascination for the writer’s expressive language. “His language is full of passion,” says Cao admiringly. “The romantic language surges from this novel vigorously. It warms my heart and inspires my writing.”
See the full announcement for additional details.