Good things come to those who wait

Fang Xu and Siqin Gaowa's adaptation of Rickshaw Boy makes it to stage after 18 years during leading theater festival, Chen Nan reports.

In 2005, when actor Fang Xu and actress Siqin Gaowa worked together on a TV drama, Fang played the role of Di Renjie, a heroic figure and one of the great judges and administrators of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), known for his compassion, talent and incorruptibility, and Siqin Gaowa played the role of Tang empress Wu Zetian.

In the drama, Di won Wu's trust and favor. In real life, the pair became good friends. When Siqin Gaowa raised the idea of staging a play based on Lao She's novel, Rickshaw Boy, Fang quickly agreed to work with her again.

Rickshaw Boy is a masterpiece of 1930s Chinese literature. Its dramatic treatment of everyday details, vivid portrayal of characters and vibrant capturing of Beijing life lends itself to adaptation in a variety of forms, including films, plays and operas.