SIGNING up to Glasgow's award-winning series of lunchtime plays is like the theatrical equivalent of a bootcamp, with a manic two-week rehearsal period typically followed by a week-long run at Oran Mor.

But the journey that Davey Anderson has made for this week's production has taken him tens of thousands of miles.

The 33-year-old playwright and director has made three trips to China since 2011 to work with theatre professionals.

His contacts in Beijing theatre helped lay the foundation of a mini-series of new plays from China being staged in a collaboration between Oran Mor and the National Theatre of Scotland.

Three plays have been translated from Mandarin into English to receive their world premieres in Glasgow.

And there was one play in particular that caught Davey's attention so much that he has adapted and directed it himself.

Thieves and Boy is a comic crime caper based on two construction workers from a fast-growing Chinese city who decide to rob from the rich to give to the poor.

"It's based on an interesting phenomenon," said Davey, the acclaimed playwright behind Snuff, Rupture, Blackout and Clutter Keeps Company.

"There are burglars in China who will target corrupt politicians because they have been getting money through bribes or gifts they shouldn't have been given.

"They are less likely to go to the police about things that have been stolen because they have acquired them illegally themselves.

"There's this strand of avenger burglars who are playing Robin Hood in a way.

"I just thought that was a fascinating thing."

The play is the debut stage work of Hao Jingfang, a short story writer and author of two science-fiction novels who has a PhD in economics from Tsinghua University in Beijing.

"She's an astonishingly smart woman," said Dennistoun-based Davey, who also composed the music for acclaimed National Theatre of Scotland productions Black Watch, Be Near Me and Peter Pan.

"She has written this play that has this energy to it – it has this real swagger."

The construction workers, played by Ross Allan and Cloud Atlas and Filth star Martin Doherty, plot a heist to steal from a high-ranking government official.

They want to compensate a friend who has been wronged by the system, but encounter a stranger en route whose appearance has disastrous consequences. The mysterious stranger, Jun, is played by Hong Kong-born performer Marco Chiu in his theatrical debut.

Davey was assisted in the rehearsal room by Glasgow University playwright student Tang Shi, who helped bring an authenticity to the interaction between the characters.

Davey first travelled to China in 2011 after his absurd comedy Scavengers was staged by post-graduate students of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland at the Golden Hedgehog Students' Drama Festival in Beijing.

He returned to give a talk at the Beijing Fringe Festival that September, where he met with far more directors than writers.

"It made me really curious about what the new writing scene is like in China and how I could get to hear the latest plays," he said.

With the help of the National Theatre of China, a call was made for 10 writers to attend a two-week writing course hosted by Davey and National Theatre of Scotland's literary manager George Aza-Selinger in Beijing in the summer last year.

Half a dozen of the participating writers later travelled to Scotland where their work was read by actors – and the three plays that make up the mini-series were commissioned by the National Theatre of Scotland.

"This is exciting. I'm doing a Chinese premiere but it's in English, in Glasgow, at lunchtime. Cracking!" said Davey.

AND he went on: "It's a good fun piece. There's a bit of humour, a bit of darkness, and it's an interesting one for taking the audience on a journey."

After its six-day run in Glasgow, Thieves and Boy will then transfer to the Regal Theatre in Bathgate, then Edinburgh's Bedlam Theatre.

The first play in the New Plays from China season was a tragic love story by Lin Weiran and adapted by Rona Munro, while the final play, Fox Attack, is Xu Nuo's play based on a true story of a pianist who commits a terrible crime to save himself.

As part of its aim to give a voice to non-English-speaking playwrights, Oran Mor staged work by Latin American writers in spring 2011 and work by playwrights from the Arab world last year.

Like these counterparts, the Chinese plays explore issues that are relevant in Britain.

"There's this whole sector of society who view themselves above the law and can't be caught and punished for things that they do wrong," said Davey.

"Another group of people are completely resentful of that and want fairness and justice, and there's an envy as well and a sense of indignation.

"Considering all the things that have happened in the UK over the last year, we're realising that the figures of authority – whether politicians, the police or media – can sometimes be corrupt as well.

"The fact that it says something about both places really appealed to me."

l Thieves and Boy is at Oran Mor, Byres Road, until Saturday, doors open at noon (12.30pm today). Tickets £8–£12.50 on the door or by visiting www.ticketweb.co.uk