Guangzhou-based newspaper Nanfang Weekly has decided to adapt the novel Rice into a play, after movie Dahong Rice Shop which is also adapted from the book has been banned on the Chinese mainland.
The newspaper says it will handle the controversial scenes delicately to keep the essence of the original work and avoid the same fate of Dahong Rice Shop.
Meanwhile, all characters in the play will be acted by famous performers in China.
Written by celebrated Chinese writer Su Tong, Rice features the self-destructive course of a family which reflects the bleak society of 1930's China.
(Cri.com April 23, 2003)