Art beat in August

Richard Marx

Date: Aug 1 — 8 pm-midnight

Venue: Beijing Exhibition Theater

Price: RMB 180-880 In the days when big hair and scruffy dramatic male vocals reigned, Richard Marx was king. The crooner of lines such as, "Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be right there waiting for you", Marx was America's premiere act in the late 1980s soft rock genre.

Contact: http://www.t3.com.cn/ticket_3952981478726396727.html

Kids summer theater camp

Date: July 28 to Aug 9

Venue: Beijing Playhouse

Price: RMB 8,000 tuition fee for a two-week theater camp.

Beijing Playhouse Academy of Performing Arts announces open enrolment for the following kid's theatre camp. Participants, aged 6-14, will perform Around the World in 80 Days with acting, songs, and dance. Aspiring actors, singers, dancers, and musicians are welcome. Some English proficiency is required.

Contact: www.beijingplayhouse.com / performance@ beijingplayhouse.com

Vincent on Fire

Beijing People’s Art Theatre presents an original play by a Chinese writer about Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh. Vincent on Fire tells of the artist’s life as a lonely pilgrim. He works as a priest, marries a prostitute, longs for understanding and ends up in solitude and poverty. Inspired by Irvin Stone’s biography entitled Lust for Life, the play is written by Yi Fei, directed by Ren Ming and stars Wang Jinsong and Bai Hui.

7:30 pm, Aug 7-9, Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, 1F, 288 Anfu Road, Xuhui district, 021- 6473-0123, 180-380 yuan

Dream of Zen

This is an original dance theater production by Beijing 9 Contemporary Dance Theater. The company has taken a chapter from the Chinese classic novel Dream of the Red Mansions and created a show that summarizes the tragic fate of 12 women of extraordinary beauty and intelligence. The production is directed and choreographed by Zhao Liang, with original music by Song Yuzhe and Square Loud band.

7:15 pm, Aug 8-9, Shanghai Culture Square, 597 Fuxing Road Middle, Xuhui district, Shanghai, 021-6472-6000, 80-480 yuan

Valley drama

The musical Memories of the Valley takes the stage at a new outdoor theater at Shanghai Culture Square. The Music Box by KFS Architecture is made of recycled materials, a patented design by Peter Fu, who is also the writer and director of the play. Actors will perform the story about three young people's efforts to preserve a beautiful valley on three stage areas, while the audience sits in the middle on swivel chairs and turns around to follow the performers.

7:15 pm, Aug 6-10. Music Box in the Shanghai Culture Square Compound, 597 Fuxing Zhong Lu (Road), Xuhui district, Shanghai. 021-6472-6000.  

Reviving Lai's double play

Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, stage director Stan Lai's best-known play, will be staged in a revival of its 2006 version at the Guangzhou Friendship Theater from Aug 9 to 11. The groundbreaking theater depicts two plays within the play. Taking half of the stage each, the two plays－a love tragedy in the 1940s and a comedy in ancient times－rehearse at the same time. The plots of the two different plays are disturbing but sometimes amazingly echo each other.

8 pm, Aug 9-11. Guangzhou Friendship Theater, 696 Renmin Bei Lu (Road), Yuexiu district, Guangzhou. 020-8666-8991.