Zhang Guoli (C) and Gao Xiaofei (L) react to the audience's applause after they performed "I Love Peach Blossom" at Shenzhen Pingshan Changshou Dramaville in Pingshan District on Aug. 7. Photo by Liu Xudong

Chinese author Zou Jingzhi, known for his TV drama scripts, experimented with writing for the stage for the first time back in 2002. Fast forward two decades, and after more than 3,000 performances at home and abroad, his play “I Love Peach Blossom” is still beloved by theatergoers. With veteran director and actor Zhang Guoli at the helm, a star-studded production of the drama will meet the audience this November in Pingshan District.

Set more than 1,000 years ago, the play looks at the complexity of human emotions through the relationship between a man and a woman. The story is designed as a play-within-a-play and keeps the audience captivated in the plot’s twists and turns, as the story switches between the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and modern times.

Inspired by a story from “Xingshi Yan,” a collection of short stories published during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the drama portrays a modern theatrical trio acting out a Tang Dynasty story, where a drunken husband stumbles upon his cheating wife and her lover. After the wife hides the lover in a suitcase, the husband falls asleep on the chaise longue, where the lover’s hat might expose the affair later. While the lover wants his hat retrieved, the wife misunderstands his gesture, thinking he wants the husband’s sword instead.

The rest of the play portrays a series of alternative story lines, as the modern-time actors discuss the psychologies and logic of the Tang Dynasty story. Adding complexity to the discussion is the fact that the two modern-time actors are themselves involved in an extramarital affair.

Moving between the past and the present, the play traditionally had three actors playing six roles. The new production will have 10 actors on stage, however. Apart from Zhang and Gao Xiaofei, a rising star on the drama stage, the other actors are from the cast of the classic Chinese TV series “Dream of the Red Chamber” (1987). These include Deng Jie, Ouyang Fenqiang, Gao Hongliang and more.

Time: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 1-3, 8-10

Venue: Theater at Shenzhen Pingshan Changshou Dramaville, Jiangling Community, Pingshan District (坪山区江岭社区深圳坪山长守戏剧谷小剧场)

Metro: Line 16 to Dongjiang Column Memorial Hall Station (东纵纪念馆站), Exit A and then take Bus M575 or 964 to Changshou Dramaville Stop (长守戏剧谷站)