Two foreign versions of William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" will compete on Chinese stages as part of the Third Festival of National Theaters China closing on Sunday.

Oh Tae-Suk, an award-winning director from the Republic of Korea, will entertain Beijing audience with his Korean version of the tale of tragic lovers at the China Children Art Theater on Thursday and Friday.

Hot on its heels is the Korean interpretation of the medieval Italian tale from the Vilnius City Theater from the Republic of Lithuania. It will be presented on Saturday and wrap up the gala at the National Center of the Performing Arts on Sunday. It is a work by director Oskaras Korsunovas, and has been celebrated wherever it plays.

Oh Tae-Suk had just left Nanjing where he put on "Romeo and Juliet" last Saturday and met the Chinese audience for the first time.

"The audience flashed cameras when the play started, but in less than ten minutes I saw no cameras down there," he said.

"The play was a success and Chinese audiences impressed me with their understanding."

Oskaras Korsunovasn is also confident of Chinese audience.

"I expect a very good reaction here," he said.

Korsunovasn put Romeo and Juliet at a convertible pizza kitchen to show the down-to-earth side of Shakespeare's plays, while the Korean one was set in an ancient Korean village. Oh Tae-Suk meant to integrate as many Korean elements into the play as possible.

"The tickets have almost been sold out, with only a few available," said Wang Sumeng, who is with the China Arts and Entertainment Group CAEG, one of the sponsors of the gala.

Other sponsors include the National Theater Company of China (NTCC), and the National Center of the Performing Arts.

Starting on Oct.10, the festival is devoted to the 444th birthday of Shakespeare.

During the past weeks, audiences in Beijing have enjoyed, among others, Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" by British TNT Theater, and two productions of "Hamlet." One was by the Russian Drama Theater named After M. Gorky Astana of Kazakhstan and the other by renowned Chinese director Lin Zhaohua.

Started in 2004, the international festival is put on every two years.

(Xinhua News Agency October 29, 2008)