Meng Jinghui's play Love Is Colder Than Death returns to the Citycomb Theater for a second run until this Sunday.

Adapted from Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 1969 movie of the same title, the play is the first in China to be performed in a "glass box" with the audience hearing the lines through earphones.

Avant-garde director Meng gives free rein to his imagination. The front of the stage has a glass wall separating the audience from the performers and people are given earphones before entering the theater. As they walk into the auditorium, all they see is a reflection of themselves in what appears to be a huge mirror. As the show starts, however, the space behind the glass suddenly lights up and nine characters dressed in cool, European-style costumes pose in a space that looks like an attic - two white walls and a roof. The narrator (sometimes, a man, sometimes a woman) can be heard slowly and rudely directing the characters to move around the stage. Through the earphones, you can hear every noise, like their deep breathing, tearing pieces of paper and throwing a chair.

The story centers on a pimp Franz, who wants to be the boss of the criminal syndicate he is forced to work for. He befriends the syndicate's Bruno and even introduces his girlfriend Johanna to him. Bruno and Johanna have an affair but Franz does not care. The three start to rob banks together but eventually Bruno is shot dead by the police, while Franz and Johanna flee.

7:30 pm, until Jan 18

No 12 Dongzhimenwai Dajie, Dongcheng district

5166-4511, 5165-7006, 5165-8004

(China Daily January 16, 2009)