Promotional material for The Song of Everlasting Sorrow Photo: Courtesy of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre

The theater adaptation of writer Wang Anyi's classic novel The Song of Everlasting Sorrow was staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) for three nights starting Friday. 

The drama returned to Beijing 15 years after its first debut in the city. The new version stars actress Shen Jiani and is being staged by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. The story follows the arrogant and beautiful Wang Qiyao as she navigates the working-class neighborhoods of Shanghai from the 1940s to the 1980s. 

Show director Zhou Xiaoqian said that the play seeks to discuss life and is an observation of a person's destiny against a certain background. 

After the Beijing performance, the drama will tour to Southwest China's Chongqing.