Brook authored The Empty Space, a seminal book widely used in higher education of theater studies, and he believed that human beings are richer than the greatest staging effects that exist.

Only aided by a smattering of lighting and music, Li, with his agile movements, transformed the bare stage into Red Peter's home – the African jungle, his cage, his classroom, and his podium.

"We chose to use an empty stage because we believe the script and the actor are the two elements that matter the most in theater," the director said. The history of theater begins in ancient Greece, but theater jobs such as directors, scenic designers, and lighting designers appeared only several hundred years ago, he added.

Listen to Your Inner Ape will tour Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, on Oct 1 and Oct 2 at the Suzhou Bay Grand Theater, and its third run will be from Oct 5 to Oct 9 at the Drum Tower West Theater in Beijing.