User:Ra5en/Cao Yu

Cao Yu (1910-1996) was one of the most remarkable playwrights in the mid 20th century in China. He was the president of China's Premier Modern Drama Theatre, the chairman of the Chinese Association of Theatre Artists and established the Beijing People's Art Theatre in 1952. Cao Yu's interest in drama started when he was in high school. After several years of studying at Nankai University, he transferred to Tsinghua University and majored in English literature since 1929. Cao Yu's playwriting style was strongly influenced by Western Literature, especially by Eugene O'Neill's works. At first, Cao Yu was more interested in playwright as literature rather than writing for the stage. Cao Yu's creation of the trilogy, Thunderstorm (1934), Sunrise (1936) and Wildness (1937) helped to usher the modern Chinese drama into the first "Golden Age" in the mid 1930s. In 1954, Cao Yu finally began to direct his own plays on stage. And during the 1950s, he rewrote his previous works for the better stage production. His famous works, Thunderstorm (1934), Sunrise (1936) and Beijing Man (1940), have become China's modern classic plays and have been adapted into several versions till now.