The fifth Beijing International Drama Festival, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Chinese drama, brought down its curtain on Friday.

As part of the closing ceremony, a performance was put up for a recurrence to the first modern Chinese drama on Friday night at the Great Hall of the People.

The drama was originally produced by Chinese students in Japan in 1907. It's an adaptation of the American slave story Uncle Tom's Cabin.

In Friday night's version, the performers were all dressed in black - a mark of respect to those who have contributed to the development of Chinese drama in the past.

The cast, composed of more than thirty famed artists, included 84-year-old Zhu Lin, who had portrayed the heroine in the 1954 version of Thunderstorm, written by Chinese dramatist Cao Yu; and 86-year-old Qin Yi, who played Uncle Tom's wife last night.

This year's drama festival highlighted various aspects of China's dramatic arts, including musical drama, traditional drama, Peking Opera, and Yue Opera from Southeast China's Zhejiang Province.

In the opening ceremony on April 17 a Chinese-language version of the musical drama I Love You, dubbed 'the most romantic drama in the history of Broadway', had been staged.

(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2007)