OOTB Season Continues W/ Soul Of Ch'ien-Nu Leaves Her Body

"Out of the Box," Butler Theatre's 2008-09 season of comedies and tragedies from other cultures, continues Feb. 25-March 1 with The Soul of Ch'ien-Nü Leaves Her Body by Chêng Teh-hui at the Lilly Hall Studio Theatre.

Show times are 8 p.m. Feb. 25-28 and 2 p.m. Feb. 28 and March 1. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students. For tickets, call (317) 940-9247 or visit butler.edu/theatre/current.aspx. For booking details, a season brochure, or more information about Butler Theatre, contact LuAnn Baker at lmbaker@butler.edu or (317) 940-9659.

The Soul of Ch'ien-Nu Leaves Her Body is an excellent example, in terms of subject matter and dramatic structure, of the first significant period in the history of Chinese theatre, the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). The Yuan dynasty was the period of Mongol rule in China.

In the Yuan period, drama was a weapon to be used against oppressive rulers, satirizing their administration and those who supported them. The playwrights drew on old stories, popular legends, narrative poems and simpler early plays for their material. The subject matter of the Yuan plays, known as zaju, included romance, courtesans, male friendships, recluses and supernatural beings.

The Soul of Ch'ien-Nü Leaves Her Body is a romance drawn from a T'ang dynasty (618-907) story. Two lovers, who wish to marry, are forcibly separated. The soul of the young woman leaves her body and joins her departing beloved as herself, a circumstance of which he is completely unaware. The "soulless" young woman pines for her absent lover and becomes increasingly ill. Finally, the young couple returns to her home, the young woman's soul and body are rejoined and all ends happily.

Director Owen Schaub and Butler Associate Professor of Music Frank Felice will collaborate to create a contemporary score for the play.

John Green, chair of Butler's Theatre Department, said the "Out of the Box" season idea came together out of the desires of the theatre professors to explore specific works from other lands.

"They're classics in their own cultures," Green said. "It's just that we don't do them here. And it's important that we explore the entire repertoire and see what's there. All of them have to do with complications of relationships and complications of love and passion. I think that is a key motif that runs through these plays."

The season will conclude with Balzaminov's Wedding, by Alexander Ostrovsky, 8 p.m. April 22-25 and 2 p.m. April 25-26.

Here is the cast for The Soul of Ch'ien-Nü Leaves Her Body.

Mrs. Chang ............................... Amanda Meyer, Carmel, IN
Wang Wên-Chü .........................Nick Palenchar, Northborough, MA
Ch'ien-Nü ................................. Leslie Lank, Chicago, IL/ Jenny Hogan, Loveland, OH
Mei-Hsiang ............................... Steph Gray, Mooresville, IN
The Soul of Ch'ien-Nü .............. Leslie Lank, Chicago, IL/ Jenny Hogan, Loveland, OH
Chang Ch'ien ............................ Trevor Davis, Kentland, IN
Attendant to Wang Wen-Chü .... Patrick Thornton, Valparaiso, IN
Servants to Mrs. Chang ............. Amanda McSwine, Indianapolis
Carolyn Williamson, Dayton, OH