Letting passion lead the way, famous Chinese TV personality Jin Xing is set to return to the theater stage, Zhang Kun reports in Shanghai.

A renowned modern dancer, TV talk show hostess and dance company founder, Jin Xing will take the theater stage in May and star in a new production of the modern Chinese play Sunrise.

The play, which is also directed by Jin, will premiere at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center on May 20.

Presale tickets to the four originally planned shows were sold out just weeks after the announcement of the production on March 28. SHOAC then decided to add three more shows.

Following these seven performances in Shanghai from May 20 to 25, Sunrise will kick off its China tour in the latter half of the year, though the actual schedule has yet to be announced.

Sunrise was published 85 years ago by Cao Yu (1910-96), and has remained one of the most popular theater creations in modern China's literary scene through the past decades.

The play presents a panoramic picture of people from all walks of life, their struggles, confusions and failures in urban China in the 1930s. Chen Bailu, a courtesan and kept woman, is the central figure in the story.

Jin, 53, is no stranger to theater productions. She directed a Chinese production of The Sound of Music in 1997, and performed the leading role in Duan Wan, or The Broken Arm in English, by renowned theater director Tian Qinxin, before taking on Sylvia (A Dog), which was produced by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center.

In the past few years, the versatile artist has enjoyed great popularity on Chinese television as a guest and judge on reality shows, hosting her own show and holding successful livestreaming promotions.

"The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a quiet period and I've been thinking about my real passion, which is theater. Now is the right time I go back to the theater stage," she says.

"The stage is my main base. Even talking about it ignites sparks in my eyes."

Jin says she wanted to create a production for the play Sunrise a few years ago, as she believed the story and characters would resonate with contemporary Chinese society.

"You are not unfamiliar with people like Chen Bailu and her school-age boyfriend Fang Dasheng, who are lost in the decadent material life but yet still dream of other pursuits," she says.

She adds that she wants to present a contemporary interpretation of the story while remaining faithful to the script by the author.

Eager to tap her full potential in theatrical expression, Jin decided to take on a second role in the play as the prostitute Cuixi, a character who shares a similar fate as Chen, but is poorer and not as pretentious.

All the characters in the play have voluntarily chosen their way of life, except for an innocent teenager nicknamed Little Thing, who is forced into prostitution and eventually takes her own life.

"Her perspective will be vital for the play," she adds.

Jin started her career as a modern dancer and founded her own dance company in 1999, of which she is still the director and choreographer. In the new theater production, all 18 dancers from her company will take part in the show and present the characters' mental struggles in physical movements.

The leading male character Fang Dasheng will be played by Chen Long, a veteran television actor. Chen says it is a privilege to be a part of the production and work with Jin. More importantly, he is looking forward to the immediate response from the audience, which would be far more satisfactory than acting on the silver screen.

The SHOAC has in past years presented concerts of internationally acclaimed orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, and hosted annual showcases of traditional Chinese operas. This year, the theater will expand its operations and be involved in the investment and production of theater shows, with Sunrise being the first production.

The second production The Road We Have Taken (Renjian Zhengdao Shi Cangsang), will be adapted from a 2009 TV series of the same title.

The play, which tells the story about modern Chinese revolution, will premiere in theaters on July 1 in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.