Seven-and-a-half hours seem extreme for a theater production, even one penned by internationally acclaimed director, Stanley Lai (
First staged in Taiwan and Hong Kong in 2002, the epic production has returned with a new cast. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Lai's theater company, Performance Workshop, the play is currently running at the National Theater in Taipei.
It's a long play and, yes, there are slow moments when your backside will get numb; but for those with a good comprehension of Mandarin, it is one of the most engaging scripts performed by a talented cast including Asian-American actress Lisa Lu (who starred in screen adaptations of The Joy Luck Club and The Last Emperor).
Inspired by the Chinese classic, The Dream of the Red Chamber, Lai's production is an epic similar to a TV drama series.
A play within a play, the story begins with one character and leads into another. The plot follows the life of Gu Shiang-lan, who has lived through much of the 20th century. A prostitute in Shanghai during the 1930s, she moves to France where she marries an aristocrat and becomes a painter. After the death of her husband, she returns to China in the 1950s and remarries. Her will to survive is tested again during the Cultural Revolution.
The audience stays engaged because of the constant introduction of new characters and because multiple scenes take place simultaneously.
To accommodate Lai's on-stage demands, set designer Wang Shi-xin (
The show is divided into two parts and scheduling allows audience members to watch the first half in the afternoon and the second in the evening, or on two consecutive nights.
Performance notes:
What: A Dream like a Dream
Where: The CKS Cultural Center, National Theatre
When: until May 7
Tickets: For ticket information contact the box office at (2) 3393-9888 or Performance Workshop at (2) 2698 2323
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