CRI听力:Best of Edinburgh Fringe Festival Stages in Beijing

The 2010 Best of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is currently being presented at Beijing's Nine Theatre. The series presents highlights of the UK arts festival, the Edinburgh Fringe. The series runs through November 28. Allie Johnson has more.

That's a sound clip from "One Small Step", a play about the American-Soviet Space Race. The play is the second of three pieces in the Best of the Edinburgh Fringe series, which is being presented by Beijing's Milky Way Arts & Communications Company until November 28th.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is widely acknowledged as the largest arts festival in the world. It takes place for three weeks in Scotland's capital, Edinburgh, and features theatre, dance, comedy, music, and assorted events and exhibitions.

This is the second time that Milky Way has selected pieces from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and brought them back to China. Milky Way's general manager, Cui Yang, says that in an era when many Chinese productions have over 100 performers, he wishes to present small productions of what he considers high quality.

"Only two actors onstage, but they can move so many people."

"One Small Step", by the Oxford Playhouse, is a comedic take on the American-Soviet Space Race. The two actors recreate the first lunar landing using only props one might find in a dusty storage room, including a filing cabinet, pillows, cardboard boxes, and a record player. The play has been performed 112 times, from Scotland to Syria and now to China.

What is it about the moon, this lifeless chunk of rock, that so captivates the human imagination? Actors Oliver Hollis and Robin Hemmings give their personal takes.

"There's a fascination with something that's hovering above you. And when people decide they're going to go and visit it, it's just incredible. And while it represents something different for different cultures across the world, getting there is such a huge challenge. And I think that's what this show tries to encapsulate."

"I guess, like you said, every country, every different culture has a different relationship with the moon, and I suppose it's one of those things that unites us as a human race, in a way. Everyone can see it-not ys at the same time, but throughout life the moon is always up there, and it's this constant thing of mystery. And to land on it brings that mystery even more to life, in a way."

The play preceding One Small Step was called "If That's All There Is". This comedy, by theatre company Inspector Sands, is about a couple whose peaceful relationship disintegrates into chaos days before their wedding. The Best of the Edinburgh Fringe series continues with "Home of the Wriggler", by Stan's Cafe, set in the year 3006 when cars have become the subject of myth. The actors create all the electricity for the show live on-stage. Home of the Wriggler plays November 24th to 28th at Nine Theatre in Beijing's Chaoyang district.

For CRI, I'm Allie Johnson.