In the play, Medea becomes the princess of Loulan. To marry her lover, Jason, she flees from her family and even kills her brother who tries to bring her back.

But Jason leaves Medea when Creon, King of Dunhuang, offers him his daughter. Medea is so upset she seeks revenge on Jason for his betrayal by poisoning both the king and his daughter and murdering the two children she produced with Jason.

"We want to present the character from some innovative angles," Wu explains. "For example, we'd rather take her as a woman crazily in love with Jason, instead of a mad sister/mother."

All the actors are professional Peking Opera performers. However, Wu encourages them to forget about the ideologies of the traditional opera and integrate elements of drama and opera with this play.

"There are hints of Peking Opera from time to time, but there is no definition of what category the play belongs to," he says. "It is a new style of staging. No frame. No limit.

"I just ask the actors to 'cry out' their feelings, as if they were singing loudly in a vast desert," he concludes.

Date: November 28-29, 7:15pm

Address: 425 Dingxiang Rd, Pudong

Tickets: 80-600 yuan

Tel: 6854-1234

(Shanghai Daily November 28, 2008)