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Chinese musical “A Chinese Ghost Story,” adapted from the 1987 Hong Kong romantic comedy horror movie of the same name, will be staged at the Shenzhen Poly Theater tonight and tomorrow.
Ning Caichen meets a beautiful and alluring young maiden called Nie Xiaoqian and falls in love with her at a temple. However, a Taoist mystic tells him that the people he saw at the temple are ghosts. That night, he returns to the temple to spend the night there and confirms his theory that Nie is actually a spirit. Nie tells him her story of how she became eternally bound to the servitude of sinister Tree Demoness. She explains that as long as her remains are buried at the foot of the tree, her spirit will be forever enslaved by Tree Demoness.
Ning seeks the help of a powerful Taoist priest and master swordsman called Yan Chixia. Yan battles Tree Demoness and attempts to free Nie’s soul but fails. Nie’s soul is taken to the underworld for betraying her master. Yan manages to open a temporary portal to the underworld. Ning and Yan enter the underworld and attempt to free Nie’s soul from suffering. They are unable to find her in the midst of thousands of other spirits.
Eventually, Ning and Nie are able to see each other briefly near dawn when they come back from the underworld after the fight. Sunlight shines on the urn containing Nie’s cremated remains, but Nie cannot be exposed to sunlight or her soul will disintegrate. Nie tells Ning that the only way to save her soul is to place her remains to rest at another, more auspicious burial site before she returns to the darkness. Ning follows her instructions and with Yan’s advice, Ning buries Nie’s remains near the crest of a hill. He burns a joss stick for her and prays for her soul while Yan watches solemnly from behind him.
Time: 8 p.m., Jan. 15-16
Tickets: 100-480 yuan
Reservations: 400-610-3721
Venue: Shenzhen Poly Theater, intersection of Wenxin Road 5 and Houhaibin Road, Nanshan District (南山区后海滨路与文心五路交界处深圳保利剧院)
Metro: Shekou Line, Houhai Station (后海站), Exit E
(SD News)
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