Stage play The Last Warrior Elephant debuted in Beijing

Stage play The Last Warrior Elephant[courtesy [Courtesy of Shanghai Puppet Theatre]

An innovative stage play The Last Warrior Elephant debuted in Beijing Thursday evening at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA).

Adapted from the novel The Last War Elephant by the well-acclaimed author Shen Shixi, and featuring astonishing life-sized puppet elephants with the latest multimedia technology for visual display, the show awed Beijing audiences with its innovative methods and touching storytelling.

Set in Xishuangbanna in southwest China's Yunnan province during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, the Last Warrior Elephant tells the story of humanity, loss, love and the bond between humans and elephants.

In the story, a boy named Bo Nong Ding develops a special bond with an orphaned white elephant named Gasuo. Gasuo joined a battle fighting the invading Japanese, along with eighty other war elephants. While all the others were shot down by the Japanese army, Gasuo survived. He was kept alive and well at the boy's village while living a long life together with Bo Nong Ding. In his old age, Gasuo the elephant realized it was time for him to leave. For Bo Nong Ding, dealing with the internal conflict and sorrow of Gasuo's ultimate departure brought back memories of their youth……

Directed by He Nian, the stage play is a co-production of the Shanghai Media & Entertainment Group and Shanghai Puppet Theatre.

The Last War Elephant will run until January 13th.