THE gritty and “decadent” urban love story “Suzhou River” (2000), set along the once-filthy Suzhou Creek, has been remade into romantic stage play at Shanghai Drama Arts Center.

The original film by Lou Ye starring Zhou Xun involved a shabby underworld, a petty crook motorcycle courier, and a bar girl who puts on a blond wig and mermaid costume and swims in a tank.

In the new, tidied-up version, the protagonist Ma Da played by actor He Ping, falls in love with a real mermaid in Suzhou River, known as Suzhou Creek to locals. In the second act, he falls in love with another woman who looks like his mermaid.

The female lead, the mermaid, is played by Li Li.

Dancer and actress Jiang Fan from the Shanghai Kunqu Opera House will also star in the play. Modern dance has been added and Jiang choreographed the show.

“A more romantic form will be staged at the theater, rather than the original film which is presented in very decadent way,” says director Wang Mengyue.

“This is not only a tragic love story on stage, but about the contemporary social values and how to love,” the director said.

The original film was set in the chaotically build-up riverside of factories and abandoned warehouses. Suzhou Creek was the metaphorical River Styx in the underworld from Greek mythology.

The film was adapted to the stage by playwright Zhao Lian, who notes the cleanup and vast changes along the creek, which has become an attractive area.

Date: March 27-April 6, 7:30pm, except Monday

Venue: Shanghai Drama Arts Center

Address; 288 Anfu Rd

Tickets: 150/200/300 yuan

Tel: 6473-0123, 6473-4567

Homage To Composer

A concert featuring masterpieces of Huang Zi, a Chinese composer who created the first Chinese symphonic music piece in the 1920s, will be staged tonight by Chinese bass-baritone Shen Yang and US soprano Kerry Holahan at Shanghai Grand Theater. About 30 pieces of work will be presented, including the famous “Si Xiang” (“Homesickness”) and “Xifeng de Hua” (“West Wind”). Born in 1904 and having studied music at Yale, Huang is the first professional composer in modern China. Most of his works are for vocal, in which he combines Western techniques with Chinese folk music elements.

Date: Today, 7:30pm

Tickets: 180-580 yuan

Tel: 6217-2426, 6217-3055

Venue: Shanghai Grand Theater

Address: 300 People’s Ave

ÈËÃñ´”µÀ300ºÅ

¡®Durian Queen¡¯

Three actresses will play up to 20 roles in the original comedy play, including white-collar worker, doctor, driver and artist, and there also are some male roles. The play compares women to the durian, a fruit from Southeast Asia famous for a strong smell and taste, spiny surface and soft pulp.

Date: Through March 30, 7:30pm (except Mondays)

Tickets: 120-200 yuan

Tel: 6473-0123, 6473-4567

Venue: Shanghai Drama Arts Center

Address: 288 Anfu Rd

°²¸£Â·288ºÅ

¡®Intimates Women¡¯

In early 1900s Shanghai, a group of independent unmarried women pin their hair up in the style of married women, instead of wearing it down in the style of single girls seeking to wed. The act shows their determination to be independent from family, men and feudal society. As a result, they forever give up the chance to marry and thus remain spinsters, curiosities, even outcasts in a traditional society where marriage was obligatory and women were totally dependent on men. These women are characters in a new play, ¡°Intimates Women.¡±

Date: Through March 23, 7:30pm

Tickets: 180 yuan, 280 yuan

Tel: 6433-4546

Venue: Studio D6

Address: 288 Anfu Rd

°²¸£Â·288ºÅ

Jazz Show

The Arkansas Jazz Orchestra from the United States will stage a Jazz performance. Beautiful and romantic scores of “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Wood Choppers Ball” and “Little Brown Jug,” as well as popular Chinese songs “Sweet” and “Rose Rose I Love You” are featured in the repertoire.

Date: March 23, 7:30pm

Tickets: 80-280 yuan

Tel: 5415-8976

Venue: Shanghai City Theater

Address: 4889 Dushi Rd

4889

Percussion Duo

Joint Venture Percussion Duo will present a marimba concert featuring a broad selection of compositions of the African percussion instrument that’s dubbed “the pearl of percussion instruments.” The audience can look forward to Bartok’s seven pieces from “Mikrokosmos,” Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin” (“The Tomb of Couperin”) and Egberto Gismonti’s “Infancia.”

Date: March 28, 7:30 pm

Tickets: 80-580 yuan

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center

Address: 425 Dingxiang Rd, Pudong

425

Exhibition

Legendary Female Painter

A retrospective exhibition featuring the ink-wash paintings created by Bei Yushao is on display at Xuhui Art Museum through April 11. Born in 1908 in a rich family in Suzhou, Bei is the cousin of world-renowned architect Leoh Ming Pei. Tutored under ink-wash master Zhen Wuchang and Wu Hufan, Bei established China’s first female artist association in 1934. Bei’s paintings have been widely collected by museums in China. The exhibition not only introduces her art but also some historical materials of her life experience.

Date: Through April 11, 9am-4pm

Admission: Free

Venue: Xuhui Art Museum

Address: 1413 Huaihai Rd M.

1413

Rubens’ Masterpieces

The biggest exhibition of Rubens and Van Dyke ever held in Shanghai is now underway at China Art Museum. On loan from the collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein, the exhibition titled “Rubens, Van Dayck and the Flemish School of Painting: Masterpieces from the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein” features nearly 100 canvas, print and tapestry. The subjects vary from portrait, landscapes to still-life. The exhibition unveils the painting development in the 16th and 17th century in Europe. Besides the two heavyweight names, Quentin Massys and Jan de Cock, Bruegel and Jacob Jordaens’s paintings are also included in the exhibit.

Date: Through June 2, 9am-4pm

Venue: China Art Museum

Address: 205 Shangnan Rd, Pudong New Area

205

Impressionist Monet

The first exhibition featuring French painter Claude Monet (1840-1926) on China’s mainland has opened and runs through June 15 in Shanghai. “Master of Impressionism Ñ Claude Monet” features 40 original Monet paintings, including the iconic “Water Lily” and “Wisteria,” and 15 works by other Impressionist masters such as Renoir. The exhibition is one of a series of events planned to mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France. All the exhibits are on loan from the Paris Marmottan Monet Museum.

Date: Through June 15

Admission: 100 yuan

Tel: 4000-406-506

Venue: Shanghai K11 Art Mall

Address: 300 Huaihai Rd M.

300