The drama "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land" by Stan Lai (Lai Sheng-Chuan) will be staged at the Tianjin Grand Theater on Feb 12-13, 2009.

A poster of drama "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land". [Photo: ent.sina.com.cn]

In "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land," two theater groups are mistakenly booked into the same theater for rehearsal. One is performing a modern tragedy called "Secret Love," which is about a dying old man named Jiang Bingliu in Taipei looking for his first love, Yun Zhifan from Shanghai, more than half a century ago. The other is performing the farce "In Peach Blossom Land," lampooning the fabled utopia of classical Chinese literature.

They fight for the stage, and resign to sharing it. What happens is a juxtaposition of modern and ancient times, tragedy and comedy. However different they seem, when put together, the two plays begin to point to a common theme, and the result makes one question, which really is the tragedy.

In 2006, the first mainland version starring Chinese actor Huang Lei and actress Yuan Quan became a hit. Huang and Yuan played Jiang Binliu and Yun Zhifan in the "Secret Love" performance, while the "In Peach Blossom Land" performance featured comic actors Yu Entai, Xie Na and He Jiong.

In the upcoming version to be staged in Tianjin, Huang Lei, Sun Li, Yu Entai and He Jiong will cast in the play.

This time, the veteran actor Huang Lei takes over the baton from Stai Lai and acts as the executive director himself.