Kwai Tsing Theatre | One Day I Went to the Art Museum with Zhu Yingtai

Description

"Wasn't I always by your side, and weren't you always by mine?"

After a decade of transformation, six original cast members - Wang Hongyuan, Lu Jiaxin, Zhang Guoying, Huang Renjie, Zhao Yilan, and Zheng Junchi - are joined by three "heirs" of the A.I. era: Zhu Jiale, Chen Yingying, and Luo Xi Yan. The "Liang" and "Zhu" of two generations talk about art, love, and - "Who am I" at the art museum.

As we walked, we parted ways...
A play about gaining and losing, and losing and gaining,
We'll see you at the art museum in October.

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▪️Creative Origin▪️
Why Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai?

Theater director Lin Yihua said, "Perhaps every life is an 'past and present life' that has not been resolved." How many people have met 'Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai', may not distinguish it from all folk tales, but in 1974, a Huangmei opera film The Butterfly Lovers (1963) that was re-released in Hong Kong, and a violin concerto called The Butterfly Lovers (1958), coincidentally entered the life of a young boy who was also away from home studying. Even more fortuitously, the appearance of a 'classmate' gave him, at the age of sixteen or seventeen, the opportunity to embark on a creative career: this classmate liked to 'test' him with questions from textbooks, and he liked to 'knock' on that classmate with riddles of his own creation, one being 'serious', the other 'suggestive', one in the 'learning', and the other in the 'questioning'. How much of the time they spent together was later transformed in Lin Yihua's works into an eternal metaphor: "Will you be my 'classmate'?"

That classmate passed away at a young age, but he left Lin Yihua with a musical work, The Inheritors of Liang Zhu (2014). It is a musical because of the fluid emotions of Liang Zhu. But it is not just a musical, it is a 'rethink' musical, because Lin Yihua has not forgotten the reason why the two young men were together:

He asked 'Why?', so he asked 'Why not?'

▪️Creative Origin▪️
Why is it Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, not Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo?

Theater director Lin Yihua said, "Why hasn't a public exam set this question as a Chinese essay topic?"

So he named his new play One Day, I Went to the Art Museum with Zhu Yingtai. "Zhu Yingtai" is the only name that appears, and while there is no 'Liang Shanbo' to match it, there is an 'I', so is 'Liang Shanbo' me? Am I Liang Shanbo?

This 'I' seems to provide more 'negative space' for imagination: Is Zhu Yingtai's 'presence' a contrast to Liang Shanbo's 'absence'? Is Zhu Yingtai's 'dream' a contrast to Liang Shanbo's 'awakening'? Is Zhu Yingtai's 'moment' a contrast to Liang Shanbo's 'long time'? Is Zhu Yingtai's 'I' a contrast to Liang Shanbo's 'other'? From then on, one argued, one debated, one drifted, one strayed, all the entanglements were in the 'Who am I'.

Is it because people of any era have to face the question, 'Where did the young me go?'

Or is it that people of any era have to face the question, 'Can I find the other pair of wings that I once had?'

If 'Zhu Yingtai' is romantic, how can 'I' 'chase' after Zhu Yingtai? If 'pursuit' is romantic, how can Zhu Yingtai 'chase' after 'Liang Shanbo'?

However, the premise seems to be, will pursuit still exist? Will meeting still exist? Will dating still exist? Will the art museum still be open?

The answer may lie in how we can still hold on to 'one day'.

▪️Practical▪️

Why do you need to understand 'art'?
Why do you need to understand 'love'?
Why do you need to understand 'Who am I'?

Zhu Yingtai and Liang Shanbo are classmates. Zhu Yingtai received a letter from home asking her to return immediately. Reluctantly, Liang Shanbo sends Zhu Yingtai on her way. Along the way, the two pass by an art museum, and the story begins with the difficulty of parting inside.

*In case of special circumstances, the organizer reserves the right to change the program content, seating arrangement, performers, and to amend these terms and conditions without prior notice.

*The organizer reserves the right to refuse participation or admission to any person who does not comply with these terms.

*In the event of any dispute, the organizer's decision shall be final.