The drama "Oliver Twist" will be presented in Chinese with English subtitles from tomorrow to July 22 at the Shanghai Drama Art Center.

The staging in cooperation with Britain's TNT Theatre celebrates the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens' (1812-1870) birth.

TNT artistic director and founder Paul Stebbings will direct actors from the Drama Arts Center, including He Ju, Yuan Ye, Zhang Ying, Ma Qingli and Ha Buri.

"Oliver Twist," Dickens' famous second novel about an orphan boy in the streets of London, was written when he was age 25. It was published in 1838.

"Its major characters and scenes have passed into myth and one could argue that it is the most popular novel of all time. However, few would claim that it is the best of Dickens' novels," Stebbings says.

TNT presented Dickens' "David Copperfield" in Shanghai in mid-April. Stebbings returned to direct "Oliver Twist."

"'Oliver Twist' is a marvelous resource for those who would adapt it for the stage. It is dramatic, comic and tragic. We aim to capture the theatricality and showmanship that makes it one of the most popular stories ever told," the director says.

This production follows the lead given by David Lean in his classic film version (1948) and cuts the entire Maylie family sub-plot.

"Of course we will make it our own, the actors will add their personalities and history to it but it remains a work of art that belongs to all humanity. And that is what we stage here in Shanghai," Stebbings says.

Music was a central part of Victorian popular theater and especially the form called melodrama - all of which deeply influenced Dickens' writing. TNT has explored the novel through music. Thomas Johnson created the original music for the play.

"We feel that music is the correct form to demonstrate that Dickens worked beyond realism and aimed to capture truth through socially responsible but highly entertaining popular art," Stebbings says.

The book ends with Oliver stating: "I am truly happy," but the reader has the impression of tragedy. The play follows the book in not romanticizing crime.

Since 2000, TNT has adapted many of Shakespeare's well-known plays including "Romeo and Juliet" and "Hamlet," and has performed them more than 1,000 times in more than 30 countries. Its first performances in China was "Macbeth" in 2005 in Shanghai.

"The city has developed a sophisticated but always open audience in a short time. The Shanghai audience is not frightened to express itself and because our style involves the audience as the extra actor, this means we enjoy performing in the city," Stebbings says.

Date: July 5-22, 7:30pm (except Mondays)

Venue: Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 288 Anfu Rd

Tickets: 120 yuan/US$ 18.85 (Sundays-Thursdays), 150 yuan (Fridays and Saturdays), 280 yuan (VIP)

Hotline: 6473-0123, 6473-4567

(Chinese dialogue, English subtitles)

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