Fanshen
The period of the Chinese communist revolution is still a very dark age. For this reason most of us are fascinated by information and details of this time.
Fanshen is the title of a book by William Hinton about a village in North China called Long Bow, during the revolution. The book covers the period from the defeat of the Japanese Army in 1945 to 1948. It was adapted as a stage play for the Joint Stock Company by DAVID HARE and was a great success both in London and on tour.
This is a special television production of the play with MARTY CRUICKSHANK , PAUL FREEMAN CECILY HOBBS , PAUL KEMBER
WILL KNIGHTLEY, TONY MATHEWS PHILIP MCGOUGH , TONY ROHR TOBY SALAMAN
The programme is introduced by Melvyn Bragg , who also interviews WILLIAM HINTON on his farm in Pennsylvania.
' Of course,' says Hinton, ' if you got the story from the gentry you'd have the story of a disaster. This is the story from the people who came up in the land reform.'
Designer j. ROGER LOWE Producer BEN REA
Assistant editor TONY cash Editor BILL
MORTON Fanshen yourself: pages 7-8