LEAD: China kills Valentine's Day show on domestic violence

Asian Economic News, Feb 17, 2004

BEIJING, Feb. 12 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATES WITH SHANGHAI SHOW ALSO CANCELED)

Chinese government officials have canceled a Valentine's Day benefit show on domestic violence in Beijing, an event spokesman said Thursday.

On Wednesday, cultural officials killed the show and a play, feminist Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues, show spokesman Zhang Baoquan said.

He said the officials did not say exactly why the show was banned, but he added the play's directors were disappointed by the move.

The play part of the show would have depicted violence, rape and injustices in male-female relationships in rural China, Zhang said.

It was to have starred Shanghai-born, U.S.-educated actress Shadow.

''We think it's really regrettable,'' Zhang said. ''The meaning of domestic violence is very realistic. It's a big problem in China.''

Officials canceled the same play in Shanghai over the weekend.

The show was to have been a nonprofit, ''benefit celebration'' for domestic violence causes, so organizers did not consider applying for government permission, Zhang said.

The presenter was a research network under the China Law Society.

Officials frown on performances that criticize the Chinese leadership, but English-language content in the Vagina Monologues did not touch on politics or mention any aspect of the Chinese government, Zhang said.

But official China also often objects to sexually explicit content and that is part of the Vagina Monologues.

Still, Zhang said, ''They didn't give us a really clear reason.''

The venue, Beijing's Today Art Museum, had sold 500 to 600 tickets at 500 ($41.30) to 800 yuan each. It now faces the problem of returning people's money.

Presenters began preparing for the show late last year and spent about 200,000 yuan to arrange it, Zhang said, adding the organizers will negotiate with the cultural authorities to get the event rescheduled.

The presenters had decided on Valentine's Day to emphasize traditional relationships between couples, Zhang said.

Valentine's Day has grown in commercial popularity in China and this year roses are selling on Beijing street corners and young urban couples mark the Western import with gifts or dinners.

There will also be a kissing contest in Tianjin and a Chinese Internet portal will sponsor romance-related games and performances for 500 people at a public plaza in Shenzhen.

Liu Fengqin, a Beijing playwright who wrote an AIDS performance last year, said the domestic violence show could have been canceled for minor technical reasons, or over objections to the content.

She added that people in China need more awareness of domestic violence.

''It affects not just one home, but a million homes,'' she said.