Available to watch online as part of this year's Inetrnational Online Theatre Festival, this was celebrated director Shule Li's interpretation of the traditional Chinese story of creation, their version of Genesis if you like.
The production is in two acts. The first act, called 'Amnesia' tells of the rains and the blood, as reported by a travelling doctor and his storytelling patient. The second act, 'Pythonland', is the Great General of Pythonland reflecting on what happened in his previous lives with the help of an old man. The play lasts about 80 minutes, and there are just two actors for the entire time. Sadly it was all in Chinese and no subtitles were available and so I have no idea who to credit.
Moreover, with it being in Chinese (or perhaps I ought to say Mandarin), and this being a language in which I have absolutely no skill or understanding whatsoever, the above explanations are taken from the IOTF website, and I can add nothing more to this storyline. Even after watching the play, which was both strangely compelling and surreal, and allowing such peripherals as background mood music, lighting, body language etc to aid my understanding of the narrative, I am none the wiser.
I can however imagine this play being quite fascinating for their target audience, native speakers. The action is perfectly crafted, and the two actors brought so much to their characters and the performance in general. I have to admit that I didn't think I would be able to emote with or relate to this play having such an obvious barrier to it as much as I did.
It is far too easy to label the play as 'foreign' or 'false'. Yes it is Chinese, that much is undeniably clear. The decor is Chinese, the set is Chinese, the costumes are Chinese, the acting is a style that Westerners are very unaccustomed to, and so again, Chinese. Despite director Shule Li trying to blend elements of traditional theatre with modern practices and techniques, the only things which resonated as contemporary with me were the superb lighting design and some of the mood music used. I assume therefore that the target audience would be able to see this as a 'modern' approach to Chinese theatre, but to my Western and un-cultured view, it was extremely traditional and 'Eastern'. I am a little more cognisant with Japanese style theatre, and in particular Kabuki Theatre, and their use of what is called in Japan as 'hanamichi'. This is a narrow extension to the stage which goes out into the audience on one side like a catwalk. It was very interesting to see the use of such a stage extension in the second act of this play.
Like I have alreay written however, the play was visually interesting. It was striking, distinct, and quite physical, but physical in again, a very Eastern way.. martial arts and certain ways of holding the body seemed to be inherent within the culture and the performance.
One thing that I simply did not undersatand was why, in the second act, the Great General of Pythonland would be dressed in the clothes and make-up of a female, and look much more like a beautiful young lady than a man., let alone a general! Perhaps this was how men dressed in ancient China, but again. to my Western sensitivities, it looked distinctly strange.
There was a moment when the General hides away on a walkway high above the stage, and this revealed the intricate beauty and detail in the ancient theatre's architecture (the theatre is some 400 years old I have found).
On another note altogether, as this performance was filmed live, it was very clear to see many audience members using their mobile phones to both film sections and take photos throughout. How annoying, distracting and inconsiderate. Surely this is not allowed in China is it?
I believe that if I have had subtitles I would have enjoyed the presentation much more, but as it was, it was a visually striking spectacle that I found very engaging and so completely different from any theatre performance style in the West (although there were some similarities with Kabuki!)
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 14/5/20
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