Tears and laughter

"No one listens to her and she just keeps on telling people her story. It's a woman's campaign to restore her honor after a divorce and false charges of sexual misdeeds made by her ex-husband," says Liu.

In 2016, the novel was adapted into a movie directed by Feng Xiaogang. Liu served as the scriptwriter for the movie, but didn't take up the position for the stage adaptation, instead passing the baton to scriptwriter Zhuo Bieling.

"I stayed loyal to the novel and kept 80 percent of the original lines," says Zhuo. "I came to watch rehearsals every day and the cast kept on inspiring me to be creative. I cannot remember how many times I've revised the script."

Liu says: "It's great to have a female scriptwriter adapt the novel into a play. From the few scenes I've watched during the rehearsals, I can tell that she is loyal to my novel, yet also bold while adapting it."

The novelist is also impressed by the director's creativity. Ding, 30, worked with Eugenio Barba, one of Europe's leading directors, at the globally acclaimed Odin Teatret in Denmark in 2015. He is also an actor, who made his debut in 2012 in the Chinese play, To Live, directed by Meng Jinghui.

In 2016, Ding made his directorial debut by adapting the classic tale, Dou E Yuan, by Guan Hanqing, a prominent playwright and poet of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), into a Chinese play. He not only directed the play but also filled the leading role of Dou E, a woman, who is wrongly convicted of murder by a corrupt court official.

"There are some connections between Li Xuelian and Dou E.Both are women who have been badly treated," says Ding. "The story of Li Xuelian is full of satire, so I turned it into a comedy, which seems a little crazy."

Ding combines a variety of elements in the play, such as Peking Opera－a 200-year-old traditional Chinese art form－and hip-hop dance. He has gathered a group of young male actors, who perform different roles, such as the people gossiping about Li and the indifferent officials that Li consults in a bid to restore her reputation.