“Performance: ‘A Wasp’ by Chinese playwright Ding Xilin”

Incorporating modern sound, lighting and 3D printing to take the audience of the play “A Wasp” by Chinese playwright Ding Xilin back to 1920s China.

The play “A Wasp” by Chinese playwright Ding Xilin is set in the early 1900s, the most disastrous and most painful period in the history of China. It was a time of decades of invasions and hundreds of unequal peace treaties. Somehow, the playwright puts his story in the frame of a comedy. 

By incorporating modern technology — sound, lighting and 3D printing, we aimed to bring the audience in Rooke Theatre back to 1920s China. We always have the choice to live our life with grace and beauty, making a comedy out of a tragic period. This project is part of my thesis, titled “Shatter the Old World, Build a New: Politics, Genre and Representation in Chinese Spoken Drama.”

Group photo of several Asian students in traditional dress on a stage with Asian decorations and a professor.
Asian artwork - two cloud shaped objects with decorative pigs inside and Chinese lettering.
Three Asian characters on set in traditional dress.

 

"This project funded in part by MHC Arts+Technology Microgrants"

This project funded in part by MHC Arts+Technology Microgrants