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There is no 'happily ever after'
By Michelle Zhang |
July 30, 2010, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BEIJING avant-garde director Meng Jinghui's latest work, a musical titled "The Love for Three Oranges" was inspired by an Italian fairytale with a happy ending.
In the fairytale of the same name, a prince marries a beautiful princess who flies out of an orange, after the two have survived all kinds of hardships.
However, in the musical created by Meng and some of the country's best independent musicians, the three oranges represent three different love stories from three different eras, none with a happy ending.
"We want to show the beauty of 'lost love,' instead of 'happy endings,' and we have created a beautiful, attractive and powerful 'love utopia'," Meng says.
In the first story in the 1930s, an actress breaks her promise to a revolutionary soldier; and in the modern era, talented street singer Long Zheng faces a difficult choice among two charming twins Qiqi and Xixi, and another pure, naive girl Lili.
Each story has a theme song. There is no live band but the actors play the instruments. Some managed to master two instruments in less than two months.
"It is a dream for every musician to sing, dance, act and play the music all at the same time," says Zhang Weiwei, composer for the play. "Meng is such a genius director that he has created this innovative way of performing - a brand-new style of musical."
The stage features gray walls, veils and chairs in various shapes. It is a very clean, yet "isolated" stage, according to stage designer Zhang Wu.
"It is a pure dream land, a space filled with love," he explains.
"There is no trace of real life. True love never compromises with reality."
Meng concludes the play in several words: "If he hasn't loved you, there will always be other people who love you. If he hasn't hurt you, there will always be other people who hurt you."
Another signature drama work of Meng, "The Accidental Death of an Anarchist," will also be staged in Shanghai in a second round. Its debut in May was highly successful.
Meanwhile, another Beijing-based director, Li Bonan, will bring to the city one of his most successful works, "How Much Love Can be Messed Up," depicting a man's three failed love stories in 10 years and how he "grows up" while dealing with women.
In the fairytale of the same name, a prince marries a beautiful princess who flies out of an orange, after the two have survived all kinds of hardships.
However, in the musical created by Meng and some of the country's best independent musicians, the three oranges represent three different love stories from three different eras, none with a happy ending.
"We want to show the beauty of 'lost love,' instead of 'happy endings,' and we have created a beautiful, attractive and powerful 'love utopia'," Meng says.
In the first story in the 1930s, an actress breaks her promise to a revolutionary soldier; and in the modern era, talented street singer Long Zheng faces a difficult choice among two charming twins Qiqi and Xixi, and another pure, naive girl Lili.
Each story has a theme song. There is no live band but the actors play the instruments. Some managed to master two instruments in less than two months.
"It is a dream for every musician to sing, dance, act and play the music all at the same time," says Zhang Weiwei, composer for the play. "Meng is such a genius director that he has created this innovative way of performing - a brand-new style of musical."
The stage features gray walls, veils and chairs in various shapes. It is a very clean, yet "isolated" stage, according to stage designer Zhang Wu.
"It is a pure dream land, a space filled with love," he explains.
"There is no trace of real life. True love never compromises with reality."
Meng concludes the play in several words: "If he hasn't loved you, there will always be other people who love you. If he hasn't hurt you, there will always be other people who hurt you."
Another signature drama work of Meng, "The Accidental Death of an Anarchist," will also be staged in Shanghai in a second round. Its debut in May was highly successful.
Meanwhile, another Beijing-based director, Li Bonan, will bring to the city one of his most successful works, "How Much Love Can be Messed Up," depicting a man's three failed love stories in 10 years and how he "grows up" while dealing with women.
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