BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- The work of the National Theater of China (NTC) "Rhinoceros in Love" completed its 1000th performance on Sunday night, becoming the first play to hit the stage one-thousand times since the New China was founded in 1949.
Zhou Zhiqiang, president with the NTC, said the play showed the bright side of human nature through a love story and presented people's spiritual pursue in the material world. That's why the play was so successful, Zhou added.
Since its debut in 1999, five versions of the sad, romantic story have been performed in front of 368,000 people in 36 cities worldwide.
The plot has been translated into English, Italian, Romanian and korean and put on stages worldwide.
Hao Lei, who has been honored as the "queen of literary film" in China, has been the lead actress for this run, and Zhang Nianhua, who has acted in the play more than 800 times, played the role of the male lead.
"The play has been on stage for 1,000 times. I feel like falling in love for a thousand times, and that is a thousand times for first love," said Meng Jinghui, director of the play, adding that the 1000th play is just a beginning.
"Rhinoceros in Love" shows the love story of a rhino feeder, Ma Lu, and his pretty neighbor Ming Ming. The rhinoceros, with poor vision, serves as a metaphor in the story, symbolizing those who are deeply in love and blinded by the sadness of unrequited love.
The play was on stage from Aug. 7 to 12 at Poly Theater in Beijing.