Minimal set, maximum impact

Chinese stage adaptation of French novel invites actors to innovate, and audiences to explore unspoken depths, Chen Nan reports.

A wooden table stands in the center of the stage, with a few sheets of paper scattered across it. A single chair is placed across from the table, and books are stacked in the corners and strewn across the ground. The dim lighting and flickering fireplace reveal a slightly unkempt bed occupying the back of the stage.

When the Beijing People's Art Theatre introduced its upcoming production of the Enigma Variations, a Chinese adaptation of the 1996 novel by French author and dramatist Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, the theater presented a glimpse of the stage set, which is minimalist yet rich in symbolism, and reflects the production's themes of isolation and introspection.

The play, which is being staged at the Cao Yu Theater until Jan 12 and features Feng Yuanzheng and Yan Nan in the leading roles, revolves around the dialogue between two men. One, the Nobel Prize-winning author Abel Znorko, lives on an island in the middle of the Norwegian Sea, and is haunted by the memory of a woman he loved passionately, and with whom he corresponded for many years. The second, a self-proclaimed journalist named Erik Larsen, arrives to interview Znorko about his latest book, which is, in fact, a transcript of his correspondence with the woman. As Larsen seeks to uncover the identity of the woman, Znorko becomes infuriated. His evasions and lies twist into increasingly complex puzzles.