ecns [expanded by feedex.net]
ecns
A Chinese cop chases Jack the Ripper
http://www.ecns.cn/2013/03-15/54389.shtml
Mar 15th 2013, 06:12
2013-03-15 15:12 China Daily Web Editor: Gu Liping
comment
Chen Minghao (right) plays Robert in the comedy-thriller play Jack the Ripper. Provided to China Daily
As one of the most mysterious serial killers in history, Jack the Ripper, has appeared in numerous novels, comic books, films, TV series and plays. Those with a lingering fascination must be delighted to see director Yang Ting's version - a comedy-thriller play based on the unsolved case.
In 1888, five female prostitutes in the East End of London were killed, with their internal organs removed. Robert, an impoverished assistant detective who was eager for promotion and a salary boost, tried to find the truth through a series of ridiculous interrogations. The fictional figure is based on a British spiritualist, writer and healer of the late Victorian era and early twentieth century known today for claims that he knew the identity of Jack the Ripper.
Yang, once an active theater actress, is putting on her fifth directorial work. There are only three performers in her Jack the Ripper.
Chen Minghao, who played in avant-garde director Meng Jinghui's Two Dogs, plays Robert very vividly.
Zhao Hongwei and Zhao Xiaosu, who often cooperate with Meng, play all the other roles onstage. Both demonstrate their excellent performing skills and gift for comedy by assuming such roles as prostitutes, Robert's wife and police officers.
Audiences roar with laughter when they see Robert cross-dressing in a dark bra and a black see-through blouse, in red socks and green high-heels. "Sir, do you want to play with me? The cheapest in the East End," says Robert, who hopes to catch the killer with himself as the bait.
Chen's exaggerated style of physical comedy and humorous Beijing dialect dialogues keeps audiences in stitches.
He behaves like an obsessive-compulsive disorder patient, and suspects everyone related to the case. The more he questions a suspect, the funnier it gets because his logic is always faulty.
The stage detective even thinks Jack might be a woman who hates prostitutes because they corrupt men, or a journalist who wanted to be famous and made up news. It's strange that such lame arguments sounds quite reasonable when Chen talks about them in earnest.
Robert was confused that his boss asked him to kill a man who is not the Ripper to close the case hurriedly. He turned to the famous detective Sherlock Holmes for help, but went to pieces when he found out Holmes was just a fictional character.
In the end, his wife became a victim and the government wanted to pay him a great amount of money so that he would keep it a secret. What should he - or any of us - choose in this dilemma? To be honest to one's heart or to be manipulated by others?
The crew will soon tour around China when the Beijing performances end. In the summer of 2014, they will go to The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, one of the world's largest arts festivals, to present the Chinese version of the famous British case to the local audiences.
You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at http://blogtrottr.com
If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe here:
http://blogtrottr.com/unsubscribe/qhG/Zc7fXt
No comments:
Post a Comment