The butterfly effect
- Source: Global Times
- [21:57 March 21 2011]
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Actors perform during rehearsal of Transfiguration of a Butterfly.
By Yue Hongyan
Claiming to present a new form of performance, Meng Jinghui, the best-known avant-garde director in China, will stage his latest Hu Die Bian Xing Ji (Transfiguration of a Butterfly) this April; it is expected to be an experimental work, shedding light on social reality and possible to be welcomed by his fanbase when previewed this Thursday in the Fengchao Theater in Beijing.
"It was adapted from stories and images from many dramatic works and novels written by Swiss dramatist Friedich D rrenmatt, and became a total different play after [the] actors and actresses' artistic recreation," said Meng, refusing to disclose too much about the storyline.
Macabre satire
As one of the most preeminent Swiss dramatists of the 20th century, D rrenmatt (1921-90) has written avant-garde dramas, such as The Visit and The Physicists, which explore social problems with macabre satire, to superb dramaturgic effect.
"The story is like The Visit, starting with a wealthy woman returning to her hometown to seek revenge on her ex-lover, but [we've] added more fantastic plots," 31-year-old lead Wang Longzheng, who plays Heibao, the ex-lover, told the Global Times. Wang also acted in Meng's previous musical The Love of Three Oranges.
Living in poverty in a small town, he and his friends are eager to greet Heibao's ex-girlfriend's wealthy return but are surprised to find she is back with a scheme to exchange his life for her fortune, as penance for the past hurt Heibao has caused her.
Just like Meng's previous works, Accidental Death of an Anarchist and Rhinoceros in Love Transfiguration of a Butterfly is set to continue Meng's avant-garde style, turning original works upside down and hacking the classics into pieces, deconstruct familiar texts with satirical parody and loose storylines.
"People become crazy with material lust and want to acquire money by hook or crook," Wang said, "Everybody is deformed as mad as a hatter to gain profit."
"It is related to our reality. People have transformed from idealism to a fever for money in our society. And this play reflects the relationship between human nature and capital. In such a society, the actors are also poisoned, so we want to release it, to show it to audiences," Meng explained at a press conference.
Meng defined this play as "Mania comedy," aiming to present "a kind of exuberant molder, a happy degeneration, a prosperous decline."
