Promotional material for the live film version of Peking Opera Sacrifice Photo: Courtesy of ATW Culture

High-definition live recordings of two Chinese classics are set to hit streaming in the UK and the US due to efforts from  ATW Culture and its New Live Screening Series.

The drama Writing in Water and Peking Opera Sacrifice are scheduled to come to Virtual Circle, a new streaming and digital content platform for classical music and the arts, on November 28 and December 12, respectively. 

Writing in Water is a contemporary Chinese comedy created by legendary Chinese theater director Stan Lai with a cast that includes renowned TV host He Jiong. 

It tells the story of He Shi, who comes across a mysterious little girl and then embarks on a spiritual journey that enables him to experience life on a far more essential and rewarding level.

Lai drew inspiration for the work from Hong Kong in 2009, a time when the city was just stepping out of the shadow of the worldwide devastating financial crisis. 

Lai wrote the play in the hopes that it could bring some positive energy to people living in the city.

First performed more than 70 years ago, Sacrifice is a Peking Opera adaptation of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) play The Orphan of Zhao, which became the first Chinese stage drama to be introduced to Europe when it was translated into English in the early 18th century.

On September 8, 1947, the legendary Chinese opera diva Meng Xiaodong performed Sacrifice at the Great Theatre of China in Shanghai. 

Seventy-one years later, performer Wang Peiyu staged the same opera, with the script, singing and staging identical to Meng's performance.