Well, it's not really an opera, per se. It will, apparently, take elements both from Broadway musicals and Las Vegas shows as well. But yes, it will be about Marx's ever-popular 1,000 page treatise on Communism. And no, they're not going to be taking any "artistic liberties".
The show, whatever type of show it ends up being, will be directed by He Nian, and will be thoroughly vetted by Zhang Jun, an economics professor at Fudan University, before it's released to the proles. The story, actually adapted from a Manga comic about Marx's masterpiece, will revolve around a company where the workers come to realize that they're being taken advantage of by their boss. This inevitably divides the factory into different factions, with some continuing to work while others rebel or take to collective bargaining efforts. In the end, of course, they all learn to embrace Marx's theory of surplus value.
A German troupe tried something similar three years ago--they even gave out volumes of The Collected Works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels at their shows--but it ultimately failed because (surprise, surprise) it was deemed to be too boring. According to He, however, this rendition will be "fun to watch".
It's not quite clear whether the show's 2010 debut will be in Shanghai or Beijing, but if you ask me, it'll be worth seeing either way.
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