Spring in a small town2015/10/20-21 19:30 STA-Theatre
⒎ Springtime in a Small Town
- Synopsis
The story takes place in a small, run-down town in the post-war era during a chilly early spring. A young woman, Zhou Yuwen, shares a quiet,insipid life with her invalid husband, Dai Liyan. Also living with them are Liyan’s teenage sister, Dai Xiu, and an old servant, Lao Huang. One day, Zhang Zhichen, Liyan’s childhood friend and former lover of Yuwen, comes to see Liyan. This unannounced visit is like a stone thrown into a stagnant pond, causing ripples in the hearts of everybody. The reunion stirs up once again the feelings of Yuwen and Zhichen, while the young and innocent Xiu is having a crush on the gentlemanly Zhichen. The four fall into an entangled web of relationship-the dilemma of sense and sensibility, the choice of to stay or to go. Which way should the intellectuals go in this time of turmoil?
- . Artist Profile
- Li Liuyi Theatre Studio
Founded in 2003, Li Liuyi Theatre Studio is a professional institute dedicated to the actualization of the genre of “new drama”. Its aims are to extol the legend of the free, unbounded spirit found in classical aesthetics, to decipher the vital signs of a beating heart in the world of contemporary living, to uphold the autonomy of pure drama underpinned by poetics, and enjoy the simple, everyday things that turn the ordinary extraordinary.
- Barbara Fei (Artistic Adviser)
Barbara Fei has given many performances and recitals in Hong Kong, Southeast Asia, Europe and United States since 1951.She is active promoting choral music and advocate for music and arts in Hong Kong, mainland China and overseas.Fei is at present the Chairman of the music committee and Conductor of the Allegro Singers；Chairman of the Hong Kong Chinese Association of Choral Societies; Honorary Research Fellow of the Center of Asian Studies ,University of Hong Kong；Chairman of Hong Kong Ethnomusicology Society; Board Member, Music Director and Conductor of the Hong Kong Chinese Oratorio Society ;Senior Adviser of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, etc. In 2008,2010 and 2013,she received an Honorary Fellowship from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong Institute of Education and Hong Kong Baptist University respectively. She received the Bronze Bauhinia Star in 2001 and Sliver Bauhinia Star in 2012 from the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. In 2011,she was appointed Honorary Menber of the National Committee of the Cina Federation of Literary Member of the National Committee of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Artistic Adviser to the “Vienna World Peace Choral Festival 2011”.In 2013 she was awarded "Hong Kong Women of Excellence in the Six Arts" by the Hong Kong Federation of Women.
- Li Liuyi (Adaptor/Director/Stage Designer)
Li Liuyi is a stage director with an international presence on the drama scene of China today. He is director and playwright with the Beijing People’s Art Theatre, and has been commissioned by many international arts festivals as dramaturge. He has over fifty productions to his credit, ranging from stage productions, Chinese traditional theatre, opera and full-length ballet. His highly original theory of "pure drama" and his application in practice have been dubbed the "Li Liuyi Methodology", which is widely studied and acclaimed. Several of his works have been staged in Hong Kong, such as the plays Peking Man and Not the Ordinary Mahjong Game, the ballet production of The Peony Pavilion, and the Peking Opera series, The Heroine Trilogy .Li is an active dramatist with a steady output over the years, many of which have been published as literary works. His plays and his theories on "pure drama "have been complied into a collection published by People’s Literature Publishing House, and has been translated into many languages for worldwide distribution.
- Gong Xun (Stage Designer)
Gong Xun trained in the Department of Scenic Art of the Central Academy of Drama, and he is currently the scenographer in the National Ballet of China. He won an Outstanding scenography Award at the Wenhua Awards. His design for the National Ballet of China’s The Nutcracker was acclaimed as"a refreshing, resplendently dreamy realm with Chinese touch." He is one of the most active young scenographers in China in recent years. Many of his designs have been taken to top international scenic art festivals such as the Edinburgh International Festival.
- Chen Xiaji (Lighting Designer)
Chen Xiaji is the Lighting Designer and Technical Director of DAMU ARTS and Accsdo Performance&Visual Arts Design Group in Beijing Resident Lighting Designer of Beijing Dance Theater. He has been an active member of the creative teams of the top drama companies in China for years. Known for his delicately insightful scenographic concepts, his designs were seen in Li Liuyi’s drama in verse, Confessions，the drama products Peking Man, Antigone and Oedipus the King, the Peking Operas The Golden Cangue, Mei Lanfang Classics, Huan-Hua-Yin,a nd the contemporary opera, The Savage Land.
- Men Xiaoguang (Costume Designer)
Men Xiaoguang trained at the Central Academy of Art and Design in Beijing, and later the University of New South Wales in Australia. He designed the costumes for several on-site spectaculars in scenic areas, such as The Precious Son of Heaven-Genghis Khan and The Sacrificial Ritual to Heaven and Earth on Mount Tai. He designed the costumes for the modern Peking Opera productions, The Golden Cangue and Huan-hua-Yin, and the drama products The Family and Death of a salesman for the Beijing People’s Art Theatre. He was the art adviser or stylist in the television dramas Life’s True Colors, Daddy Wants a Wife and The Guard of Love.
- Cast
Lu Fang as Zhou Yuwen
Lu Fang is a National Class One Performer currently on the cast of the Beijing People’s Art Theatre. Lu graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, where she studies Acting. She is always acclaimed by professionals and general public alike for her exemplary delivery of lines on stage. Her solid yet charismatic performance in Antigone in 2012 has won her the accolade as the ‘ingrid Bergman of China’.
Han Qing as Dai Liyan
Han Qing is a National Class One Performer currently on the cast of the National Theatre of China. Han graduated from the Central Academy of Drama, where he studied Acting. He appeared in such stage productions as 18 Springs,Not the Ordinary Mahjong Game, Lost Village, etc. Han is a much-sought-after actor Known for his solid acting skills and charisma on stage.
Lei Jia as Zhang Zhichen
Lei Jia is a performer currently on the cast of the Beijing People’s Art Theare. Lei graduated from the Beijing Broadcasting Institute, where he trained at the school of Performing Arts. He appeared in such stage productions as White Deer Plain, Wotou Compound, The Rickshaw Boy, Hamlet etc.
