FROM THE QING DYNASTY TO THE FRENCH REGENCY

I am not a particular fan of theatre.

That said, I do not mind attending the odd theatre production now and then, when they happen to suit my personal preferences.

It so happens that there is nothing very much happening on the music front for this year’s Arts Festival, so I decided to give some of the plays a chance.

The Crab Flower Club, by Toy Factory Productions Ltd, is a story set in the Qing Dynasty. Five women came forth to celebrate the 60th birthday of their family patriarch, armed with twin missions – to prepare a lavish banquet with the famous Yang Cheng Lake hairy crab as the centerpiece, and to set up a private all-woman poetry club.

There was, as expected with such a storyline, an underlying theme of modern feminism versus the traditional constraints of the female sphere, a story that has been told in many ways and portrayed in many forms.

The premise of this particular production was the use of literacy and literature as the inspiration. To quote the program notes: Words are seasoned with wit and sautéed with hidden emotions….beautifully revealed in each dialogue are rich interpretative possibilities as well as meaningful contrasts.

Indeed. I can find no better description.

The story revolves around the setting up of a poetry club, so poems are inevitable. The English translations of the poems were beautifully done, and managed to capture the essence of the originals for most part. However, as an effectively bilingual person, I did wish that the poems at least could have been rendered in their original language. The poems have an entire dimension in Chinese, for want of a better word, that seems to be missing when translated. Every word is so carefully chosen and comes together so seamlessly as part of a bigger tapestry. There is a musicality in the words themselves, even if the meaning is not immediately accessible. And I have always admired the succinctness of the Chinese language – so little words say so much.

That is but nitpicking though. There is not much to criticize about the production, as least from the view point of a rank amateur in theatre arts. The actresses had been well casted, and their deliveries were powerful and moving. Movements were obviously carefully and delicately choreographed, and greatly enhanced the visual impact of the whole show. Costumes were beautifully done up, and I understand that even the shoes were specially designed so that the actresses could more accurately and consistently portray the mincing steps of feet-bound Qing women. Ingenious.

The Crab Flower Club - a worthwhile way to spend my time and money.


Les Précieuses Ridicules, a one-act satire by playwright Moliere in prose, presented by Theatre Du Kronope, is a totally different act.

Plot – The story is about two young women, Magdelon and Cathos, from the provinces, who have come to Paris in search of love, or more accurately, the idea of love, which appeared to have been garnered from silly novels. They rejected a pair of eminently eligible young men whom Gorgibus, the father of Magelon and uncle of Cathos decide they should marry, but whom they considered ungallant and unrefined.

Their rejection so stung the men that they vowed to take revenge on the girls. They achieve this having their valets pose as sophisticated nobles embodying all the fine points that the two girls deem an acceptable suitor should have, and for them to court the girls with devices that the girls, in their shallowness and naïveté, will deem romantic.

The show ends with the valets being exposed (literally) for who they are, and the young ladies being mocked for their puffed-up provincial naïveté and self esteem.

A very simple and straightforward plot and a kind of bizarre performance.

The first of the bizarreness that struck me was the music. It was an alternating mix of twentieth century tonal orchestral composition and loud modern disco pop, both of which were wholly unexpected, especially the latter. The costumes were next, a colourful and exaggerated mish-mash of styles. Then, there were the face masks and make up, which were again, exaggerated and were somewhat morbidly attractive in their own way. Lastly, the delivery and choreograph was, for most part, done slap-stick style, and yet again, had their own attractiveness, in a cheapish, satirist way. The whole production brings to mind those satirical caricatures of celebrities that one often finds in newspapers.

Since the play was in French, English subtitles were provided on a screen located above the stage. As we were sitting on one side of the stage, it got a bit tedious to switch between the screen and the action down below, which did not exactly enhance the experience. In addition, since the play was set during the Regency period, the translated dialogue also read like a Regency novel, with long, slightly convoluted sentences. Having to digest all that prose within seconds while keeping one eye on the action gave me a bit of a headache.

Overall, the play was entertaining, and a little overwhelming at parts. I can’t say I like it, but I don’t think I hate it. One thing is for sure – I won’t forget it in a hurry.