[Photo provided to China Daily]

"Unlike other sci-fi books I've read, The Three-Body trilogy contains not just elements of mystery, high technology and imagination but also depicts roles vividly.

"These expand the dimensions for stage drama, which is both exciting and challenging for us."

Liu Fangqi's vision of theater was broadened in France by watching pioneering theater works.

"So, for me, it is quite exciting to use the latest technology in theater."

He adds that after the success of adapting The Lost Tomb into a drama, his team gained rich experience in combining multimedia technology and special effects with theater.

"We've been approached by companies after The Lost Tomb to make sci-fi dramas, but we didn't take it up as we are waiting for a script, which, like The Three-Body trilogy, is strong enough for the stage," says Liu Fangqi.

In the drama, some characters, such as nanomaterials researcher Wang Miao, astrophysicist Ye Wenjie and Ye's husband, chief engineer Yang Weining, have been portrayed slightly differently from the way they appear in the novel.