Katie and Thomas invited me to attend a play in which their student was preforming. I eagerly agreed and hurried to meet them for dinner before the performance. It wasn’t until I was at dinner did it dawn on my it wasn’t going to be in English. As we had seen Clash of the Titans in English earlier this week I’d forgotten which country I was in. As I’ve conveniently and inconveniently surrounded myself with ex-pats it is easy to forget that not everything is catered to you in English.

 

Katie's student is on the far right. She was wonderful.

The Play as translated was “Mouse Falls in Love with Cat”. The synopsis, a famous writer gets caught up in a fraud investigation headed by the local police. He is a well known figure being biographed by a leading journalist, who finds his escapades unworthy of print. The whole while a confusing love triangle takes place between the journalist’s girlfriend who is a police woman, the writer and the writer’s sister. The theme is about following one’s ambitions to the end and not giving up on one’s dream.  (Or at least that is what I got of the play.)

Katie, Thomas and I sat in the front row. Two of Katie’s students sat in the row behind and quietly translated the play. Leaning forward all evening couldn’t have been comfortable. I was very impressed with their translation skills and am greatly looking forward to working with students of their caliber next year.

No imagination necessary, if the script says smoke, he will smoke.

A few impressions on Chinese theater. I was a little well lets be honest I was stunned when twice one of the actors lit up a cigarette on stage and proceeded to smoke during the scene, but when he actually discarded the cigarette on the stage in a dramatic flare of frustration I could hardly believe my eyes. He had forgotten to stamp out the cigarette so it preceded to smoke the duration on the scene. Also the alcohol scene was quite dramatic as they drank beer and then proceeded in a drunken stupor to douse the stage as well as themselves in their beverage of choice. I’ve yet to see apple juice in China so just like the cigarettes I’m going to go out on a limb here and say it was real alcohol.

 

The play was scheduled to start at 6:30pm but as the Officials were running late due to a meeting the play was postponed until their arrival. So the play got underway about 7pm. As we were unsure the total length of the play I decided I’d sneak out at intermission to make another appointment. By the time 9pm rolled around I gave up on an intermission and sneaked out during a scene change. Katie and Thomas stuck it out to the bitter end which ended up being after 10pm, and that was with no intermission.

The entire production from start to finish was produced by students which I found to be quite impressive. The simple sets were quite effective and truly Chinese. The students were cast in roles that resembled their personalities according to Katie. At the end of the play each and every participate was allowed to make a Thank you Speech.

I had a very enjoyable evening. I forget how much I enjoy live theater even if it is not in English. It is amazing how much body language can convey.