The National Theater of China is staging a series of shows that explore the complicated tangles of the heart and the vagaries of desire. Gan Tian reports

The National Theater of China (NTC) is now staging a series of four dramas about the complexities of urban relationships at the National Center for the Performing Arts. Red Rose and White Rose is an adaptation of Eileen Chang's novel of the same title. The story is based around the notion that "every man has two women in his life".

A scene from Red Rose and White Rose. Qin Hailu (right) plays the role of the characteristic "Red Rose". Photos Provided to China Daily

Office worker Tong Zhenbao discovers that his wife Meng Yanli, "White Rose", is having an affair with their tailor. It reminds him that many years ago when he was visiting a friend, he was obsessed with the friend's wife Wang Jiaorui, "Red Rose".

"When I was holding the script of the drama, I felt like I was cooperating with Chang. I was very surprised, that she could think so much about human love at the age of 24," director Tian Qinxin says.

Tian says that the "Red Rose" character should be passionate, but without too much "bad girl style", while the "White Rose" is innocent but wise. TV drama star Qin Hailu was chosen to play the role of "Red Rose".

Popular actor Gao Hu lends his talent to the drama in the lead role of Tong Zhenbao.

The backdrop is decorated like a Shanghai street of the 1940s and there is a 10-meter glass corridor in the center of the stage. According to the director, it represents the corridor in old Shanghai apartments, but it also metaphor for a man struggling between the demands of his wife, and his lover.

"The two separate rooms, divided by the corridor, are the two sides of a man: one represents his social responsibilities, and the other is his inner desires," Tian explains.