“ONLY This Green,” a poetic dance drama inspired by the Northern Song (960–1126) masterpiece “A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains” by prodigy painter Wang Ximeng, will make an anticipated return to Shenzhen Poly Theater this April.

Completed when Wang Ximeng was only 18, the original painting stretches nearly 12 meters and captures sweeping mountains, rolling rivers, and clustered dwellings rendered in the vivid blue-green mineral pigments that define the blue-green landscape tradition. “Only This Green” brings those vistas and their aesthetic spirit to life on stage.

Structured as a dance “poem-drama,” the work follows the perspective of a contemporary Forbidden City researcher, the “scroll unroller.” Using a time-interlaced narrative, the present-day scholar slips into Wang Ximeng’s inner world at the moment when the painting is about to be exhibited and the young artist is completing the scroll. Onstage, the modern curator, the youthful painter, and a personified “green” — the painting’s spirit — meet across centuries to reveal the accident and inevitability behind a work called “peerless for a thousand years,” and to illuminate the emotional bonds between national treasures and modern audiences.

Visually, the production evokes layered pictorial space. The choreography blends classical, modern, and contemporary vocabularies; the stage design favors elegant simplicity while costumes bloom with color.

Since its 2021 premiere and its memorable excerpts at the 2022 Spring Festival Gala, “Only This Green” has resonated widely. April’s return to the Shenzhen stage follows nationwide acclaim and international tours to countries including Russia and the United States.

Time: 8 p.m., April 23-25; 2:30 p.m., April 26

Venue: Shenzhen Poly Theater, Nanshan District (深圳保利剧院)

Metro: Line 2, 11 or 13 to Houhai Station (后海站), Exit E(Tang Li)