Stage Photo of the Drama Desire under the Elms 

Desire under the Elms, a masterpiece drama by Eugene O'Neill, the founding father of U.S. national drama, went on stage in an all-star formation at the National Center for Performing Arts (NCPA) from February 16 till 19. It came as a component of the “Junior Directors’ Artworks Exhibition”, a trademark drama event by NCPA.

Known as “the first great tragedy of U.S.”, Desire under the Elms, by its intense dramatic conflicts and deep thinking on human nature, has exerted its influence over generations of drama artists. The play had its setting in a farm at the 19th-century New England. For the possession of the farm, a whole family went into cold calculations and schemes, father against sons, brother against brother, mother against son, husband against wife. The 75-year-old Cabot had three marriages. He never articulated the future inheritance of his farm. His sons hated him. Eben, the youngest son, stole his father’s money and sent away his two elder brothers, only to meet Abbie, his beautiful 35-year-old stepmother who married only for the sake of property. To take over the farm, Abbie seduced Eben and gave birth to yet another son of the family. However, when true love came to bloom, all calculations grew into a cancer within love. In order to testify her true love to Eben, Abbie fell into hellish humbleness…This time in China, Desire under the Elms was staged in an all-star formation. The director was Ms SHEN Liang. The leading actors and actress were Ms SHI Ke, Mr. LIU Xiaofeng and Mr. ZHOU Yemang.