"When I saw that Li was selling cherries it immediately piqued my interest,"Li Yangduo says."Of course I'm a huge fan of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, and when I saw the pictures of real cherry trees that Li Ge posted on line it struck a chord with me."

Inside the Drum Tower West Theatre there is bookshop called Cherry Orchard, named, obviously, in Chekhov's honor.

"There's never been anything like what we're going through now, and it's unclear when we'll be able to put on shows again, but we're determined to keep the theater alive," Li Yangduo says.

Theater buffs have responded warmly to the drive to raise money, and within three days of the cherries going on sale, more than 1,500 kilograms of the fruit had been sold.

"It's far beyond what I'd expected,"Li Yangduo says. "Of course, we'd never sold fruit before, but we knew people would want to show their support and that like us they are really keen to get back to watching plays. For all of us the theater is a land of imagination that is full of joy."

Drum Tower West Theatre, founded six years ago, has become one of the most popular small private theaters in Beijing. It has produced 12 plays, including The Pillowman, adapted from the award-winning play of the same title by the Irish-British playwright and director Martin McDonagh, and Thunderstorm, by the renowned Chinese playwright Cao Yu.