Reviewed Friday 5th September 2014
Presented as part of this year's OzAsia Festival by the Adelaide Festival Centre and the Shandong Provincial Department of Culture, the Shandong Acrobatic Troupe presented their highly energetic production,
Dream of the Ghost Story, filling the stage of the Adelaide Festival Theatre with an amazing display of acrobatics. This work won the Wenhua Excellent Drama Award at the 10th China Art Festival in October 2013, and it is easy to see why.
The Chinese huli jing, or fox sprit (literally, 'exquisite fox'), can be either good or bad but, in this early Qing dynasty fable, it appears as a young girl who meets a young scholar and, when they grow up, they fall in love. They are attacked by a serpent demon and he is captured and tortured, but she is loyal and brave and sets about rescuing him, eventually resurrecting him. This fable came from a collection of around 500 tales in
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, by P'u Sung-ling (1640-1715), first published in 1740.
Although it is rated for ages 8+, has supernatural themes, and a 'good fighting evil' scenario, it is not really as scary as suggested. I'd be more scared if I had to do some of the acrobatic activities that involve some risky moves at a considerable height, and carried out with no safety nets or harnesses. There are certainly a lot of things in this exciting performance that only exceptional artists such as these are capable of. Over fifty performers are in this production, and the things that they do will leave you awed, especially when you notice that many of them are still children.
The young boy and fox spirit play happily together, with Shi Shuai as the boy and Wang Luyuan and Du Xiaoru sharing the role of the fox spirit, each of them having a different, and very impressive set of skills. There is a lovely childish innocence as they run around the stage with a red kite, and the sense of play coupled with the acrobatics grows until their transition to the adults.
This use of several people sharing a role continues, with Ding Jiaheng, Hang Mengxuan, and Wang Tao all playing the snake demon, Yin Xiaolong and Zhang Zuowei performing as the red fox, and Yang Zichen and Liu Gang as the little judge.
The adult scholar and fox spirit are Guo Qinglong and Zhang Xu, while Zhang Wei appears briefly as the scholar as an old man. Guo Qinglong and Zhang Xu are marvellous as the loving couple and amidst all of the sensational things that they do, a highlight is when they perform together in a large ring suspended on a cable, working very closely with one another to combine romance and danger.
The entire cast assist in telling the story but they do so in a unique way with a combination of dance, acrobatics and circus. They fly around the stage on cables, climb ropes, perform a remarkable routine on a bungee rope, juggle, and in well coordinated groups they have some great routines with diablos and boleros, as well as balancing spinning plates on rods, five in each hand. There are foot juggling routines with large drums and with other members of the ensemble, who are tossed to and fro between the jugglers, often being thrown to great heights in the process.
There is so much to watch in this thrilling production, which often has several things happening at once. It does not end there, though, as there are the many beautiful and colourful costumes, some very clever sets, most effective lighting, and original music written especially for the production that blends traditional Chinese and western ideas and instrumentation.
This production is superb family entertainment that is fuelled with enormous energy and enthusiasm and the added fascination of the Qing dynasty folk tale of fairies, demons, and humans, the conflicts and their resolutions and, of course, the unforgettable talents of the performers.
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