A faltering relationship

"I read the script when I was in university and I didn't understand it at all. I read it over and over again and still I didn't get it," recalls Xu, 44, a graduate of the Central Academy of Drama's directing major. "I was too young and didn't have much experience of relationships, but I was impressed by the playwright's witty language."

In 2001, he started to work with Beijing People's Art Theater both as an actor and as a director.

"Now, in my 40s, I know about marriage, which helps me to better understand the script and to present it onstage with depth," Xu says.

This new version has a very simple stage set. The director, who is also in the lighting team, also decided to use scene lighting, such as desk lamps and bedroom lights, to replace stage lights, to create a sense of intimacy in the theater.

On the stage, there is only a man and a woman: Richard and Sarah.

"Their lovers only exist in their conversations, which makes the whole play like a game, a game between the couple," says Xu. "The audience, like spectators, pry into the couple's private lives, learning about their affairs behind closed doors and unlocking the couple's desires.