Huang's first trip to the United States in 2007, only a month before the premiere of To Be Continued, offered an eye-opening perspective. While visiting Washington, DC, and New York, he observed both classical and contemporary theater, from traditional realism to industrial-scale Broadway musicals.

"Returning to Beijing, I realized that the trip helped me better understand my own approach as a theater director and how to present my ideas with confidence in my homeland's artistic voice," he recalls.

After his trip to the US, he decided to name the play To Be Continued in English and then translated it into Chinese Weiwan Daixu.

The 20th-anniversary edition of To Be Continued next year will blend the original cast with emerging actors, a deliberate attempt to bridge generations.

For Xu Zixuan, the play is no longer just a play. It is a companion that has grown alongside her.

When she was cast as Molly in 2009, Xu was a 21-year-old student at the Beijing Film Academy. It was her first leading role in a full-length stage production. The excitement of stepping onto the stage was mixed with nervousness, but she had no idea that the character would stay with her for the next two decades.