The Gingerbread Man, a figure well-known to almost all Western children, adventures to Beijing with his friends, Salt, Miss Pepper and Herr Von Cuckoo.

Director Zha Mingzhe and his young cast from the China Children's Art Theatre welcome local children to join their adventure at the Beijing Theatre yesterday and today.

The traditional folk tale from Western countries, "The Gingerbread Man" was originally adapted into a musical by British playwright, composer and director David Wood in the 1960s.

This story is set on the shelves of an antique kitchen cupboard, late at night, where a quintet of extraordinary characters create mischief behind the backs of the sleeping home owners - "the Big Ones" - upstairs.

The Gingerbread Man is found unfinished in a baking mould by the condiment couple Salt and Miss Pepper and Herr Von Cuckoo, the eccentric wooden bird living in the cuckoo clock on the wall.

Herr Von Cuckoo has a sore throat which is ruining his "cuckoo," thus threatening to land him in the dreaded dustbin.

The salt shaker and the pepper mill try to help but run afoul of the Old Tea Bag, who lives in the teapot on the top shelf.

The trio add a cherry slice mouth and two raisin eyes to the figure before rousing him to life with a handful of pepper.

The Gingerbread Man's efforts to help Cuckoo's sore throat are hampered by the villainous scavenger, Sleek the mouse and the Old Tea Bag.

Danger also comes from poison set out by the Big Ones to destroy the vermin. All is resolved by morning and the unobservant Big Ones are none the wiser.

"It is an enchanting musical with lots of superbly silly jokes and foot-tapping songs," says Guo Qi, a teacher from the Central Academy of Drama, after seeing the show which premiered on November 1.

It's interesting that the children's musical is directed by Zha Mingzhe, whose recent credits include "The Dawns Are Quiet Here" (Zheli de Liming Jingqiaoqiao), "Death without Burial" (Si Wu Zangshen Zhidi) and "The Monument" (Ji'nianbei).

Zha, who is called a "cruel director" in the Chinese drama scene, earned a Master's degree at the Russian National Academy of Theatre and Arts in 1995 and is known for his approach to deal with the cruel theme of war and for his in-depth and cool depiction of human nature.

Such themes seem far away from a light-hearted play for kids.

His own answer is: "The idea of directing a show for kids came into my mind a decade ago when I studied drama in Moscow where there are about six or seven theatres specially producing drama for children.

"I saw children going to the theatres with their parents on weekends, playing with friends in the lobby where toys were sold during intermission, and leaving while talking about the fairy tales and the characters from the show... I asked myself how many Chinese children could go to the theatre every weekend and how many plays we have produced for them? Sooner or later, I decided to do something for them," he said.

The chance finally came when the China Children's Art Theatre commissioned him to direct "The Gingerbread Man."

He collaborates with composer Zou Ye and choreographer Jiao Gang, who just returned from the Four Season Musical Ensemble in Japan to produce the musical abounding in catchy songs, colour, magic and humour.

The audience will have opportunities to join the performers in some scenes so the children off stage will feel right inside the adventure of the Gingerbread Man and his friends.

"We are confident that it is a treat for the family. I hope to give children a self-respecting art form through the show," the director said.

"Both children and adults can learn something kind from the story."

(China Daily November 10, 2004)