The Green Snake hits Hong Kong

Most Chinese are familiar with the Song dynasty classic The Legend of the White Snake, a romantic tale about a young man named Xu Xian and a snake spirit-turned-human called Bai Suzhen. An edifying tale, it speaks of fidelity, loyalty and eternal love.

Less well known is Green Snake, an edgy, more contemporary version of the story, written by local novelist Lillian Lee Pik-wah. But it's this version - filled with hatred, jealousy and lust - that has captured the imagination of Beijing director Tian Qinxin, who will bring it to the stage this week as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Published in 1993, Green Snake shifts its focus onto Bai's companion Xiaoqing, the green snake, and her many desires. It explores Xiaoqing's sexual attraction not only to the Buddhist monk Fa Hai, who wants to expose Bai's true identity, but also Bai and Xu.

Starring actresses Qin Hailu and Yuan Quan, Green Snake is a collaboration between the National Theatre of China and the National Theatre of Scotland and will tour the mainland, Singapore and Scotland after its premiere here.

Tian says the latest stage adaptation - which marks both the Year of the Snake and the 20th anniversary of Lee's novel - will allow her to unravel the intricate relationships between the four characters and introduce new themes that audiences may find some resonance to in their own lives.

"Lee's novel revolves around seduction and desire and now, 20 years later, I hope my interpretation can go beyond that," says Tian at a rehearsal hall of the National Theatre of China in central Beijing.

The director says before writing the script, she flew to Hong Kong to meet Lee, who was also keen for Tian to take the theme of the novel to another level. "Now the bar is raised and the challenge lies on how to lift the story," Tian says.

She says her stage adaptation reflects the reality of contemporary China, a country teeming with temptations and where traditional moral values are being quickly eroded.