Winter Soldier.docVIP

Winter Soldier 　　In 2012， the then-85-year-old actor Lan Tianye met Wan Fang on the rooftop terrace of Peng Hao Theater， one of Beijing’s oldest independent theaters， to ask her to write a play in which he could act. Wan was familiar with “Uncle Lan，” as Lan is known to his colleagues， who had acted in classic plays written by her father， Cao Yu. Cao is probably the most well-known and widely acclaimed playwright in Chinese history， as well as the first president and founding member of Beijing People’s Art Theatre （BPAT）， the company that Lan has devoted a lifetime to. 　　Beyond his being cast in one of the roles， and his insistence that the leading characters be “two old people，” Lan had no further input until Wan presented him with her finished script. 　　Three years later， in May 2015， A Winter Trip went on tour nationwide. In 45 days， 88-year-old Lan toured seven cities and delivered 17 performances alongside 62-year-old Taiwanese actor Li Liqun. 　　Originally titled Confession， Wan’s play， a 105-minute twohander， centers on two friends， one of whom betrayed the other during the Cultural Revolution （1966-1976）. Decades later， these two old friends meet again and one confesses his betrayal. 　　Applause on opening night was long and thunderous， with some audience members describing both Lan’s performance and the play as “a miracle.” 　　 Refusal 　　Only a year before he met with Wan， Lan had initially refused an invitation from his company’s president Zhang Heping to act in a BPAT production of Cao Yu’s Home， an adaptation of a novel by Ba Jin. Lan was 84 at the time， and had been living in retirement for 24 years. He had not appeared on stage since taking a role in a 40th anniversary production of BPAT favorite Tea House， by Lao She. 　　Rather than being in the limelight， Lan spent most of his retirement painting pictures. Born in 1927， Lan’s childhood dream had been to become a painter. At 17， he received an offer from the Peking National Academy of Arts. Ho