Theatre

posts on drama in Greater China

I Love XXX and Other Plays review

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MCLC and MCLC Resource Center are pleased to announce publication of John B. Weinstein’s review of I Love XXX and Other Plays, by Meng Jinghui, edited by Claire Conceison. The review appears below and at its online home http://u.osu.edu/mclc/book-reviews/john-weinstein/. My thanks to Michael Berry, MCLC book review editor for translations, for ushering the review to publication.

Kirk Denton, editor

I Love XXX and Other Plays

By Meng Jinghui
Edited by Claire Conceison

Reviewed by John B. Weinstein
MCLC Resource Center Publication (Copyright February, 2019)

Meng Jinghui, I Love XXX and Other Plays Ed. Claire Conceison. New York: Seagull Books, 2017. Viii+355 pp.+DVD. $45.00 ISBN 9780857423849

I nearly encountered Meng Jinghui’s 孟京辉 play Longing for Worldly Pleasures (思凡) in 1998, when I arrived in Beijing for a few weeks of research for my dissertation on the development of modern comic drama in China. When I met with a theater official in Beijing, I asked what I should see while there; although I cannot recall what he did ultimately suggest I see, I do recall him showing me a program or poster or some such artifact for a production called Longing for Worldly Pleasures.  That, he noted, was what I should have seen, but its run was already over. Had I only planned the trip better.

What I did not yet know, and maybe no one truly knew, though perhaps this official surmised it, was that Meng Jinghui would become THE big thing in Chinese drama in the coming years, and his work, though by no means strictly comedy—and by no means strictly any one thing—might have formed the ending of my research project. To this date, while I have been fortunate enough to see the English-language adaptation of Head without Tailreferenced in the volume’s introduction, and even more fortunate to spend an evening hanging out with Meng himself in his hotel room in Boston, I have never seen a production of Meng’s work within China itself. Can a volume of English translations of Meng Jinghui’s work compensate? Continue reading →

Matteo Ricci The Musical

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Source: SCMP (4/26/19)
Matteo Ricci: 16th-century Italian priest who tried, and failed, to convert Chinese to Catholicism is resurrected on stage
Matteo Ricci The Musical might not be the show Hong Kong wanted, but, according to those who brought it to the stage, it’s the one we needed. The priest was the first European to enter the Forbidden Palace in Beijing and is buried in the Chinese capital
By Fionnuala McHugh

Jonathan Wong performs in Matteo Ricci The Musical, on April 19. Photo: Matteo Ricci The Musical / Cheung Chi-wai

Jonathan Wong performs in Matteo Ricci The Musical, on April 19. Photo: Matteo Ricci The Musical / Cheung Chi-wai

On Palm Sunday, which this year fell on April 14, the first run-through of Matteo Ricci The Musical was held at Clarence Film Studio, in the depths of Shek Kong, in the New Territories. The follow­ing day, everything would shift to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, in Tsim Sha Tsui, in preparation for open­ing night on Holy Saturday. As every Christian knows, Palm Sunday marks the day Jesus entered Jerusalem, after 40 days in the desert, to cheering crowds. By Good Friday, these fans are enthusiastically calling for his crucifixion. Three days later, he’s risen from the dead. It’s the scene-setter for a week of dramatic reversals. Continue reading →

Trumpian rhapsody

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Source: Washington Post (4/6/19)
Trumpian rhapsody: Hong Kong opera takes on ping-pong, China and the long red tie
By Mary Hui

People pass the Sunbeam Theatre in Hong Kong, where “Trump on Show” will open on April 12. (Mary Hui for The Washington Post)

HONG KONG — Start with a performer playing President Trump. Then bring in a long-lost brother who was raised in China.

Throw in castmates portraying a ping-pong-loving Mao Zedong, a deal-seeking Kim Jong Un, Ivanka Trump and Mao’s power-hungry fourth wife.

They are singing. Opera. In Cantonese.

And, well, it’s complicated.

“Trump on Show” opens April 12 in Hong Kong with its creator — 64-year-old feng shui master, Li Kui-ming — offering something of a fever dream of politics, history and diplomacy framed around the current tensions between Washington and Beijing. Continue reading →

Li Liuyi’s Sichuan-dialect Adaptation of Teahouse

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MCLC and MCLC Resource Center are pleased to announce publication of “Spoken Drama in the Twenty-First Century: Li Liuyi’s Sichuan-dialect Adaptation of Teahouse,” by Megan Ammirati. The essay appears below, but to read it with its accompanying videos, you should go to: http://u.osu.edu/mclc/online-series/ammirati/.

Kirk A. Denton
Editor, MCLC

Spoken Drama in the Twenty-First Century: 
Li Liuyi’s Sichuan-dialect Adaptation of Teahouse

By Megan Ammirati

MCLC Resource Center Publication (Copyright March 2019)

Figure 1: The set of Li Liuyi’s production of Lao She’s Teahouse in Nanjing, 2018

Lao She’s 老舍 Teahouse (茶馆) is one of the most representative works of modern Chinese drama. An epic history spanning the first half of the twentieth century, the play narrates the compromises that Wang Lifa 王利法, the proprietor of a teahouse, makes in order to survive the late Qing reform movement, the death of the would-be-emperor Yuan Shikai, and the War of Resistance. The play’s canonization has been reinforced in academic and artistic circles, anthologies in Chinese and English, as well as domestic and international productions. While the script certainly merits such a reputation, the play’s lengthy history on stage has been much more contentious.

The production history of Teahouse reflects the fluctuations in China’s political climate. The script was published to general acclaim in 1957, when the relatively liberal atmosphere of the Hundred Flowers Movement allowed for some of Lao She’s more critical perspectives on Chinese history. However, when Jiao Juyin 焦菊隐 and the Beijing People’s Art Theatre (北京人民艺术剧院) produced Teahouse in 1958, they were subject to the harsh criticisms typical of the new Anti-Rightist and Great Leap Forward movements. The Beijing People’s Art Theatre produced the play a second time in 1963, but the dominant literary policy was promoting a focus on the first thirteen years of the PRC rather than pre-Liberation history (Yu 2013: 107-108). The theatre did not produce the play again until 1979, after the end of the Cultural Revolution and the deaths of both its playwright and original director. This production preserved Jiao Juyin’s original designs and cast a large number of leading actors in their original roles (Chen 2010: 16-17). More than a nostalgic tribute, these staging decisions redoubled the commitment to the original production and its practitioners. Since then, most professional productions of Teahouse have stayed true to the Beijing People’s Art Theatre’s original staging, making similar choices about costumes, set designs, and acting style. When the famously innovative director Lin Zhaohua 林兆华 revived the play in 1990, he confessed that his respect for the script and its history had made him reluctant to make drastic changes (Yu 2013: 112). Continue reading →

Replica of Peony Pavilion to appear in Stratford

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Source: Global Times (3/14/19)
Replica of Chinese Peony Pavilion to appear in Shakespeare’s hometown
By Xinhua

The Peony Pavilion is a masterpiece by Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu (1550-1616) from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). A replica of the pavilion, based on pictures recorded in ancient books of the play, will appear in Shakespeare’s hometown.

Four hundred years ago, when William Shakespeare was writing his sonnets with a quill, Tang Xianzu was recording verses with a brush nearly 6,000 kilometers away.

China and Britain have hosted a series of events to commemorate Shakespeare and Tang. Among the cultural exchange contracts signed, a replica of British playwright William Shakespeare’s family house will be built in Tang’s hometown in Fuzhou, East China’s Jiangxi Province, while Fuzhou will help build the replica of the Peony Pavilion, the historical site where Tang’s story took place, in Shakespeare’s hometown. Continue reading →

Xiqu surtitle editors and translators needed

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Dear MCLC colleagues:

I’m the Artistic Director at Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, one of the largest cultural developments in the world right now.

We’ve just opened our first major arts centre, The Xiqu Centre, and are urgently looking to expand our army of people to help us with surtitles for the Xiqu performances.

Please contact me at alison.friedman@wkcda.hk  if you, any of your colleagues, or any of your students have the necessary skills and are looking for freelance work.

Deadlines can be quite tight, so we need committed, professional, knowledgeable and reliable translators and editors.

With appreciation,
Alison

—
Alison M. Friedman 方美昂
西九文化區表演藝術總監
Artistic Director, Performing Arts
West Kowloon Cultural District
T: (+852) 2200 0862
www.westkowloon.hk
alison.friedman@wkcda.hk

Contemporary Chinese theatre essay competition

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ESSAY COMPETITION: Contemporary Chinese Theatre
CRITICAL REFLECTIONS ON CONTEMPORARY CHINESE THEATRE:

A Competition

The Chinese section of the International Association of Theatre Critics (IATC-China) announces an international contest for a text related to contemporary Chinese theatre – a theatre or performance review, a feature article on a theatre phenomenon, or an academic essay exploring an aspect of the subject matter. To be eligible, the piece must have been published in the English language during the last three years—that is, between January 1, 2016 and December 31, 2018.

Reviews should be between 1500 and 2500 words, and features and academic essays between 3500 and 6500 words.

Along with the articles, the authors are expected to provide a PDF or a photo copy of the publication where the articles were published. Continue reading →

The Chalk Cycle at MIT

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hi colleagues,

letting you know about our fall theater production at MIT that just opened. if you are in boston area this weekend and want to come, please let me know and i will reserve a ticket for you. we are sold out tonite but have a few tickets for tomorrow (saturday) nite and some for sunday matinee at 2pm.

i wrote/directed the play—it is based on the yuan drama ‘the chalk circle’ and brecht’s adaptation ‘the caucasian chalk circle’ and the 1999-2007 custody case of anna mae he.

running time is two hours, and it’s appropriate for audiences 13 years old and up.

warm wishes,

claire conceison Continue reading →

Shan Tianfang, storyteller, dies at 83

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Source: NYT ((/17/18)
Shan Tianfang, a Superstar of Chinese Storytelling, Dies at 83
By Amy Qin

Shan Tianfang, a storyteller whose energetic oral renditions of classical Chinese novels and historical events propelled the ancient pingshu tradition into the modern age for generations of Chinese, died on Sept. 11 in Beijing. He was 83.

The cause was multiple organ failure, said Xiao Jianlu, Mr. Shan’s business associate and the manager of the Shan Tianfang Culture Communication Company.

Mr. Shan tried for many years to avoid becoming a performer of pingshu, the Song dynasty-era storytelling tradition. Growing up in 1950s China in a family of folk art performers, he had seen struggle firsthand. It was a life of constant financial troubles and low social status. Continue reading →

German theater company cancels Ibsen play (1)

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This piece has some discussion of exactly why they cancelled Ibsen’s play — the government got scared, as usual:

An Enemy of the People is ‘not welcome’ in China. By Grace Tsoi. Inkstone (Sept 12, 2018).

https://www.inkstonenews.com/arts/classic-ibsen-play-enemy-people-censored-china/article/2163896

Two thoughts:

This brings back nostalgic memories of when I helped set up August Strindberg’s Miss Julie, in Chengdu in 1987, directed by the late Zhang Fushen. I wrote about it in the Swedish daily, Svenska Dagbladet, on Jan. 14, 1987.

Also, wondering about this Inkstone. It is paid for by the Chinese state. They sometimes seem to want to balance on the line of the forbidden. Is it that they want to project a fantasy about the censorship situation, to ignorant foreigners, by way of seeming a little daring? How much of it is it available inside the firewall?

yrs. Magnus Fiskesjö, nf42@cornell.edu

German theater company cancels Ibsen play

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Source: Washington Post (9/12/18))
German theater company’s Ibsen play canceled in China
By Associated Press

BERLIN — A German theater company is ending a tour of China early after a theater canceled two showings of Henrik Ibsen’s “An Enemy of the People.” German authorities say they regret the cancellation.

Tobias Veit, the director of Berlin’s Schaubuehne theater, told German news agency dpa Wednesday two planned performances in the eastern city of Nanjing won’t go ahead. The official reason given by the Chinese theater was “technical problems.”

The Schaubuehne has been touring with the Ibsen play since 2012. It usually ends with a discussion with the audience, but that was allowed only at the first of three Beijing performances.

German Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said Berlin has “taken note with regret” of the cancellation. She said the German embassy informed China’s culture ministry of that stance Wednesday.

Xiqu English terms?

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Dear list members,

Hong Kong West Kowloon Cultural District’s first major performing arts centre — the Xiqu Centre — opens this December: https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/the-district/architecture-facilities/xiqu-centre/

Our marketing and comms team has asked me if there exists a standardization of Xiqu terms somewhere for their baseline reference and use.

Does East West Centre at U of Hawaii, or someone at HKU or elsewhere know of such a database or listserv or other resource? A kind of Chicago Manual of Style for Xiqu terms in English that they can use as a reference point for why they choose the English terms they choose (right now it is up to the preference / conventions of the translators they engage, but we would prefer something more standardized to reference.)

All directions appreciated!

Many thanks,

Alison Friedman <alison@pingpongarts.org>

Vagina Monologues cancelled at Fudan

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Source: Sup China (5/31/18)
Student Group At Fudan University Forced To Cancel Annual Production Of ‘The Vagina Monologues’
By JIAYUN FENG

This year at Fudan University in Shanghai, there will not be any students talking loudly about female genitalia. Zhihe Society 知和社, an on-campus student organization committed to addressing gender issues, was forced to cancel its annual performance of the feminist play The Vagina Monologues (阴道独白 yīndào dúbái), which was set to take place on May 31.

Written by American playwright and activist Eve Ensler in 1994, The Vagina Monologues is a celebration of women’s rights, bodies, and sexual experiences.

In 2004, students at Fudan University performed the Chinese version of The Vagina Monologues for the first time on campus, making the school the first Chinese college to produce the play. In subsequent years, the student group constantly adapted the original play for the contemporary Chinese context, and the annual production has evolved into a well-received cultural event among college students in Shanghai. Continue reading →

Historic Shanghai theater makes a comeback

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Source: China Daily (5/26/18)
Historical theater makes a comeback
By Zhang Kun in Shanghai

The facade of the Great Theater of China in Shanghai. Provided to China Daily

The 88-year-old Great Theater of China in Shanghai was reopened on May 16 after two years of renovations.

Located near People’s Square at 704 Niuzhuang Road in downtown Shanghai, the facility was built in 1930 as a prime venue for Peking Opera performance. Famous artists such as Mei Lanfang, Ma Lianliang and Meng Xiaodong used to sing in the theater, which was known as one of the “Top Four Stages” of Peking Opera.

The building was listed as a protected historical structure by the municipality in 2005. Huangpu district authorities later made the decision to renovate the building in 2012. The Ever Shining Cultural Group, the operator of the theater, invited RHWL Architects from Britain to work alongside a Chinese team for the renovation. Continue reading →

Chinese opera in Thailand

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Source: NYT (4/24/18)
‘We Don’t Perform for People, We Perform for the Gods’
A community has formed around Chinese opera in Thailand, preserving one of the oldest dramatic art forms in the world.
By Malin Fezehai

Backstage with the Sai Yong Hong Chinese Opera troupe. Actors spend hours applying layers of makeup and working on their hairstyles before performing.

BANGKOK — “Anywhere they play in Bangkok, I’ll be there,” said Warin Nithihiranyakul, 73, a dedicated fan of the Sai Yong Hong Chinese Opera troupe for more than 10 years. While waiting for his friends to arrive, he helps out by starting to set up plastic red chairs for the audience to watch the evening’s performance in an area just south of Bangkok’s Chinatown.

A devotee of 11 years, Wandee Tengyodwanich, 62, unwraps several small plates of Chinese dough sticks and cake, passing them around to her friends in front of the stage before the show. She says that Sai Yong Hong is the best Chinese opera in Thailand because it invests in very elaborate costumes. She and her friends go to see the group a couple of times a year. They eat and catch up as they reminisce about the first time they saw Chinese opera as children. Continue reading →