Recently in theater Category

I watched a student play at Chinese Drama Academy the other day. The play is part of the Sino Greek cultural exchange program. I forgot the exact title of the play, but its about Prometheus being punished by Zeus after he had stolen the fire and gave it to man kind. Creatively speaking, I think everyone in the play, in total about 30 or so students all gave their best performance, but an integral part thats missing is the ability to attract audiences. In the story, various Titans sang different songs to reflect their mood, a pair of happy titans sang the Chinese adaptation of the Smufs theme. That.. although weird, is tolerable. But later on, to reflect a somber mood, the song picked was "How the flowers become such red" a well know communist revolutionary song with a Tajik melody. The song immediately broke audiences mood as it became too obviously comical with it having that heavy political baggage. I did enjoy the performance non the less though. Thanks to Yuanyuan for the invite.

Amber is an experimental play directed by a very famous play director Meng Jing Hui (孟京辉). Written by his wife Liao Yi Mei (廖一梅). The story is roughly about a woman falling in love with a nonchalant playboy who received her late husband's heart. Saw this in National Grand Theater with Chloe last weekend. She managed to get orchestra seats, I know, I've been lucky with tickets lately, I think its because everyone knows my mood is sorta "Meh"-ish. Chloe also had dinner with the director, his wife, and some cast a while ago, his wife supposedly is stunningly smart, I don't doubt that.

My favorite line in the play: "I can resist anything except temptation." (除了诱惑，我什么都能阻挡。)

I found this play by accident online. Jujube tree is widely grown across beijing, especially in old chinese court yards. The play revolves four families living in a court yard along with a Jujube tree. It is very well written, and performed. The plot has a lot of wit and originality, the ending is adequate and self conscious. I loved this piece, and would recommend it to all. The play only runs from Jun 1st to 4th, at least thats according the the website, so hurry and don't miss it.

I watched this play called "有多少爱可以胡来" or How much love is there left to mess around (with)? It depicts 3 depressing romantic encounters of a male advertising executive. Although the title suggested some hint of sexual escapades, the play merely unfolded a series of relationships. each of the 3 different women in 3 different age groups and their appropriate social backgrounds enters and exits this guy's life one after the other, causing pain, frustration and confusion. The performances of the actors were commendable, but the script isn't. Non of the three encounters were moving enough nor explicit enough to be engaging for me. The radio interview story telling backdrop sometimes was annoying, especially with some horribly dry jokes. The ticket price is from 100 rmb to 280 rmb, I'd suggest spending it elsewhere.