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Two classics merged to create 鈥楾he Dreamer鈥
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MERGING works of two great playwrights, who died 400 years ago, seems to be the “in” thing in the art world in both Britain and China this year.
Artists from the Shanghai Drama Arts Center and Gecko Theater are collaborating on a similar initiative.
“The Dreamer,” based on Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and Tang Xianzu’s four plays related to dreams, is being experimented at the Arts Center until October 23.
Romance in dreams was selected as the theme as both Shakespeare and Tang used it as a creative tool in their stories.
Helena, who fails to get a response from the man she loves, is wooed by two men with the help of fairies, while Du Liniang, the young lady of a traditional Chinese family, finds her ideal love in the dream.
In the new play, Helena, a single women in her 30s who longs for love, finally finds her lover in a dream. Yet helpless in her effort to keep him, she falls in the storm of an odd illusion, terrifying nightmare and splendid memory. The shadow of Du Liniang, who fights for her love in “The Peony Pavilion,” keeps appearing in Helena’s dream.
Yu Rongjun, from Shanghai Drama Arts Center, sketched the general structure of “The Dreamer.”
Rich Rusk and Chris Evans from Gecko Theater worked as director and physique director to realize the dream on stage. All the performers are from the Shanghai Drama Arts Center.
Reality and dream
About two-thirds of the story happens in dreams.
“In dreams, the brain edits various materials of the real world with a mysterious logic. It is a kind of creation driven by sub-consciousness,” says Zhao Yanxiang with Shanghai Drama Arts Center. “The blur between reality and dream is what everybody has experienced, and this is what make this particular story outstanding.”
“In ‘The Dreamer,’ shadows gain their own lives, scenes move, and the characters change their personalities accordingly. What we experience in dreams and the complicated problems emerge in dreams serve the core of the play,” says Rusk, the director. “I hope that our topic this time will be universal, which can connect us with the audiences with similar experiences.”
Audiences may find odd scenes like floating bed, cracking floor, stream in the bedrooms and storm in the bar as illogical, just as they would have themselves dreamt.
“The Dreamer” is a physical play with very limited character lines, which makes it accessible to all audiences.
According to Zhao, it is even difficult for some Chinese audiences to identify the limited lines as many of them are intentionally delivered as sleep-talking with vague pronunciation.
Date: Through October 23, 7:30pm
Venue: Shanghai Drama Arts Center, 288 Anfu Rd
Tickets: 80-380 yuan
Tel: 6473-0123, 6473-4567
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