Mon, Jul 12, 2010 page13

• [ THE WEEKENDER ] A stripped-down version of a Chinese classic

  He Nian sacrifices dramatic tension for narrative unity in his stage adaptation of ‘The Deer and the Cauldron’

  • By Ian Bartholomew / STAFF REPORTER
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Literary adaptations for the stage and screen are always a risky venture, and the case of The Deer and the Cauldron (鹿鼎記), a multi-volume picaresque novel that plays off the conventions of the Chinese wuxia (武俠), or chivalric, genre, presented unique challenges. Adapted by the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center (上海話劇藝術中心), the production of The Deer and the Cauldron, which played at Taipei’s National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (台北國父紀念館), proved inventive and entertaining, but it was a long way from being the laugh-a-minute experience that had been promised.

  The long and hugely involved story had been stripped down in a very skillful manner, but the effects of the radical shedding of so much content showed. Director He Nian (何念) managed to achieve a narrative unity in the production, but paid the price in dramatic tension. For a show that ran for two-and-a-half hours without intermission, this was hard on the attention span of the audience, who also had to battle with both the uncomfortable seats and the poor sound system of the venue as well.

  

  The Deer and the Cauldron moves to Taichung for two shows this week.

  PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW ASPECT

  The story of street urchin Wei Xiaobao (韋小寶) who insinuates himself into the imperial palace of the Qing emperor as an agent of the anti-Manchu resistance and inadvertently becomes close friends with the boy emperor Kang Xi (康熙), and also becoming romantically entangled with the Princess Kang Ning (康寧), provides plentiful opportunity for both slapstick and verbal comedy that can range from toilet humor to clever plays on issues of identity politics and government hypocrisy.

  The jokes are piled on thick and fast, but the quality is uneven, and the demands of the narrative produce a number of scenes that are primarily dictated by continuity. One can see that He and his cast are doing their best to keep the laughs flowing, but there were plenty of uncomfortable silences from the audience. There were also a number of scenes of pure absurdist genius, not least the use of human puppets in scenes of cinematic martial arts, with partially visible black-clad assistants supporting the actors and moving prosthetic limbs to recreate the superhuman marital arts moves that are so central to the chivalric genre. The careful artificiality of this had a Monty Python-esque silliness that allowed scenes that would have been difficult, if not impossible, to perform with cinematic realism, to elicit some solid belly laughs from the audience. Another was an underwater sequence that used the same techniques for other purposes. It is always a pleasure in theater performance when the impact of an effect derives from inspired use of simple elements rather than expensive technological fixes, and The Deer and the Cauldron had plenty of such moments. The acting, though largely in a variety-show style that this reviewer has found to be one of the banes of mainstream Chinese-language theater, was of high quality, though without ever getting away from what is essentially pantomime.

  The Deer and the Cauldron will be showing at the Chunghsing Concert Hall, Taichung (台中中興堂), 291-3 Cingwu Rd, Taichung City (台中市精武路291之3號), on Wednesday and Thursday. Tickets are NT$500 to NT$2,500 and are available through ERA ticketing or online at www.ticket.com.tw.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    First person arrested as Danjiang Bridge opens

  • 2

    TSMC shares stumble on report, but losses minor

  • 3

    Navy needs 12 subs for modern fleet: CSBC head

  • 4

    HIMARS to be deployed to islands

  • 5

    Police identify man who engaged in indecency at park