BASED on the first book of Liu Cixin’s best-selling “Three-Body” trilogy, a stage drama, directed by Liu Fangqi, debuted in Shanghai on June 1 and recently wrapped up its first 12 performances.

    In early August, the show, titled “The Three-body Problem,” will go to Beijing, kicking off a 20-city national tour.

    The series, which is about how human beings respond to alien invasions, was published in China between 2006 and 2010, and sold more than 1 million copies.

    The first book in the trilogy was awarded the Chinese Science Fiction Galaxy Award in 2006.

    In 2014, an English translation of the first book, titled “The Three-Body Problem,” by Chinese-American author Ken Liu was published.

    A year later, Liu Cixin became the first Asian author to win the Hugo Award for best novel for the book, which is seen as the highest honor bestowed in science fiction and fantasy writing.

    According to Liu Fangqi, a Shanghai native, who graduated from the Shanghai Theater Academy and majored in directing, his team was approached by Yoozoo Pictures to do the drama last year.

    The Shanghai-based film-production company has adapted the novel into a sci-fi movie.

    The first round of performances of the drama has brought in nearly 10 million yuan (US$1.52 million) from the box office and other spin-offs.

    “The success of the series has opened a new chapter for China’s sci-fi. It is also offering inspiration for those who want to do adaptations,” says Liu Fangqi, whose team adapted the online novel “The Lost Tomb” — a tale of grave robbers — into a stage drama three years ago.

    “Unlike other sci-fi books I’ve read, ‘The Three-Body’ trilogy contains not just elements of mystery, high technology and imagination but also depicts roles vividly.

    “These expand the dimensions for stage drama, which is both exciting and challenging for us.”

    “So, for me, it is quite exciting to use the latest technology in theater.”

    He adds that after the success of adapting “The Lost Tomb” into a drama, his team gained rich experience in combining multimedia technology and special effects with theater.

    “We’ve been approached by companies after ‘The Lost Tomb’ to make sci-fi dramas, but we didn’t take it up as we are waiting for a script, which, like ‘The Three-Body’ trilogy, is strong enough for the stage,” says Liu.

    In the drama, some characters, such as nanomaterials researcher Wang Miao, astrophysicist Ye Wenjie and Ye’s husband, chief engineer Yang Weining, have been portrayed slightly different from the way they appear in the novel.

    As Liu says, 85 percent of the play sticks to the original story and changes have been made only to make the story more vivid.

    The team employs various technologies, including projection technology and 3-D mapping. Additionally, a huge pyramid has been placed in the center of the stage with each facet displaying images of battle scenes between humans and aliens.

    The play has received high marks from author Liu, who watched the show’s premiere in Shanghai.

    (China Daily)