A CLASSIC Chinese play which has been adapted for European audiences will be coming to Market Theatre, Ledbury on Saturday, November 22.

The tale is one of love and revenge - when the beautiful concubine ZhaoJun refuses to supply the corrupt minister MaoYanShou with his usual bribe he makes sure she’s hidden away from the Emperor.

But ZhaoJun is a resourceful woman and engineers a chance meeting with the Emperor.

When the Emperor sets eyes on her he immediately falls in love, and this sets off a chain of events that sees all their lives changed forever.

Michelle Yim, one of the founders of the play'#s producers Red Dragonfly, said: "There are a wealth of wonderful stories from the East that have never been seen on a British stage.

"And we want to give the British audience a chance to experience them.

"This also provides a great opportunity for some of Britain's very talented East Asian actors, who are often overlooked, to showcase their work."

The Autumn of Han was adapted for the stage by Ross Ericson, whose critically acclaimed play Casualties has been published by Methuen.

He said: "'Us Europeans often find classical Chinese drama quite impenetrable so my job was to put the story into a structure and language that would be familiar to European audiences whilst retaining the authenticity and spirit of the original text."

The Autumn of Han is part of an ambitious three year plan by Red Dragonfly that includes future productions of DiaoChan and Monkey, a journey to the west.

Red Dragonfly Productions has been formed by British and British East Asian artists specifically to bring East Asian stories to the British stage.

The show begins at 8pm and tickets, costing £12, can be bought in advance from themarkettheatre.com.