Debra Li
TAIWANESE director Ang Lee once remarked: "It's a thankless job adapting Eileen Chang's work," even as his "Lust, Caution" was a hit with moviegoers and critics alike.
Mainland theater director Tian Qinxin agrees with Lee, after having attempted to bring Chang's work to life.
Using modernist approaches, Tian has adapted Chang's novel "Red Rose, White Rose" (1944) into a stage play. After winning mixed reviews in Shanghai and Beijing, the play is being performed in Shenzhen tonight and tomorrow night.
Fans of Chang's novels are familiar with the story: When Tong Zhenbao returns to Shanghai in the 1930s from Europe, he is helpless before the seductive advances of his friend's wife, Wang Jiaorui. Tong gives her the nickname "Red Rose." When Red Rose begins talking about divorcing her husband and marrying Tong, he flees. He then marries a passive, submissive girl of impeccable pedigree, Meng Yanli. She is "White Rose." Through his ignorance and abuse, Tong turns White Rose into a neurotic wreck. She begins a secret affair with her tailor.
"It is this delicate relationship between man and woman which drove me to do the play," Tian said.
Like her other plays in recent years, the stage version of "Red Rose, White Rose" is loaded with body language and black humor.
The opening scene features a glass tunnel, which divides the stage in half. "It could be the long passage in the buildings in old Shanghai where the story occurred; it could be the membrane in a man's heart that separates his desires from social responsibilities," Tian said.
On the left of the tunnel, two women dressed in white cheongsams flirt with a tailor; on the right, two women in red dresses talk with their husbands.
Two men dressed in the same style, suit, cap and shoes, walk through the glass tunnel. One of them opens the left door to see a couple flirting, which reminds him of his lover from years ago. The other opens the right door and sees a woman in a red dress.
Tian has cast two actors and four actresses to personify the social mask and inner soul of each of the three leading characters.
In Chang's writing, Red Rose is passionate and free-spirited, while White Rose is abstemious and from an untainted background.
"Red Rose satisfies a man's desires, and White Rose satisfies a man's need to keep his image, and obey family and social norms," Tian said.
The director has drawn humor from Chang's sad and gloomy story. By skillfully combining Chang's powerful words with contemporary slang, Tian has transformed the story into a black comedy that reveals the cruelties of life. She also mixes the famous jazz song "Quizas, quizas, quizas" and Suzhou opera into the show.
In contrast, Hong Kong director Stanley Kwan's 1994 film adaptation of the same story was sad.
While many people have embraced Tian's black humor, some critics say Kwan's movie version is closer to the original and has a stronger impact with its heart-felt tragedy.
Tian explained that while writing the story, Chang was just 24 years old.
"I tried to have a dialog with Miss Chang in her primes, not old-lady Chang. I can imagine her writing the story over coffee and snacks, sniffing at her hero with her clever satires," Tian said.
A carefully selected cast injects life into the characters on stage.
Qin Hailu tries to bring out Chang's Red Rose, who is a "seductive woman who has a kid's naive mind and a sophisticated woman's body."
The 29-year-old, who won the Best Actress award at the Golden Horse Film Festival in 2001 for her performance in "Durian Durian," initially wanted to play White Rose but Tian convinced her otherwise.
"Many people thought Qin was a cold actress. To me, she is passionate and full of vigor. She makes a healthy, sexy and charming Red Rose, " Tian said.
Before the play, Qin had not acted in a full-length stage drama since graduating from the Central Academy of Drama in 2000.
Chang's fans have compared her with Joan Chen from Stanley Kwan's movie, but Qin has not let them down. Her performance has been hailed as a success by audiences in Shanghai and Beijing.
Gao Hu and Xin Baiqing, who play Tong, both perform with exaggerated poses and movements, adding extra intensity to the production.
Xin, a well-known TV actor on the mainland, said the audience sees a different Tong in him from the character in Chang's novel.
"In the novel, Tong is a blurred image who does not dare to live the life he wants and revenges his unhappiness on others. In fact, he's not exactly a bad guy. Pessimistic at times, he still has love and passions," Xin said.
A monologue delivered by the two Tongs sums up the play, in Chang's original words: "In every man's heart, there are two women: One is the red rose; one is the white rose. If he marries the red rose, the red rose will turn into mosquito blood on the canopy, but the white rose will become pure moonlight. If he marries the white rose, the white rose will turn into rice sticking on his shirt, but the red rose will become an indelible scarlet stamp on his heart."
"Some criticized the show, saying too many actors, actresses, dialogs and body movements turn it into a hilarious sitcom. However, when the show comes to an end in a sudden, they will realize in sadness that the relationship between men and women is just a matter-of-fact thing. In retrospect, they will come to see the tragedy," Tian said.
Time: 8 p.m., Jan. 22, 23
Tickets: 180-580 yuan
Reservations: 11185,
8981-2344
Venue: Shenzhen Grand Theater (深圳大剧院)
Add: 5018 Shennan Road East, Luohu District (罗湖区深南东路5018号)
Metro: Da Ju Yuan Station (Grand Theater Station 大剧院站), Exit B
