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| (China Daily) |
Visually, the stage did away with realistic sets and used an iron-cast structure that is abstract, yet expressive, capturing the essence of the story rather than architectural details. Traditional hand-held fans are used as a major prop. The whole production has a cleaner and classier look that seems to be inspired by a Chinese poem.
For her new production of The Good Person of Szechwan, now renamed The Good Person of Jiangnan - Jiangnan refers to the Yangtze River Delta - the musical idioms are so much richer, with hip-hop for comedic effect and a Pingtan melody as a leitmotif for the appearance of the lead in female form - Pingtan is a Suzhou-based storytelling form of singing - and a Broadway-style number for the factory scene.
Amazingly, the opera does not look like a jumble but like a fresher form of Yue Opera or even Yue Opera meets stage musical. All the explorations in artistic expressions serve to bring out the poignancy and relevancy of the story, which fits contemporary China more than any other time, even though it is set in the early 20th century.
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