CHINA: The man in the plaid shirt was very happy after the Gate Theatre's performance of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot in the Chinese capital, but he was slightly puzzled.
"What does it mean? Does it mean that westerners enjoy waiting," asked Ye Weiqiang, a student, as Beijing's Capital Theatre emptied.
Beckett's most famous play, written in 1949, is a bleak but humorous exploration of the human condition. It is one of the highlights of the Irish Festival of Arts and Culture in Beijing and Shanghai, and the play has become a cult favourite since it was performed in the city in Chinese in 1998.
The audience clearly loved the interpretation of the German director, Walter Asmus, a lifelong friend of Samuel Beckett.
The production features Barry McGovern as Vladimir and Johnny Murphy as Estragon. It was designed by Louis le Brocquy, whose tapestries are also in China as part of the festival.
Everyone had their own reading of what the play is about. "I think it's a kind of uncertainty. It's about the vanity of life, about depression. It's not really too positive. I think it's about people thinking about the meaning of life. And we should have hope, that's the most important," said Anny Zhou, a biology PhD student.
Mr Asmus was in China for the first time and was delighted with the audience's engaged reaction.
"The audience were a bit overawed in the first half, but they grew into it more and more and by the second half they were getting into it. It was beautiful," said the director, from Hannover, who worked with Beckett during his lifetime.
One member of the audience commented afterwards that the use of repeated phrases and sentences was of particular relevance in Beijing.
"It's like a conversation with a Beijing taxi-driver," she said.