Thanks to the folks at The Theatre Practice (实践剧场), Rachel and I caught their latest theatre production, 《聊斋》Liao Zhai Rocks! at the Drama Centre Theatre last Friday.
This production also marks The Theatre Practice’s 250th production as they celebrate their 45th anniversary this year.
Here’s a short synopsis of 《聊斋》Liao Zhai Rocks! from the official website:
故事灵感取自于中国神怪小说集《聊斋志异》。这一回将推陈出新、挑战传统理念，带你进入凄美的人鬼妖仙迷离世界。风流书生桑晓爱上了狐妖婴宁，经过一番死缠烂打，终于夺得芳心。不久后，他又恋上女鬼封三娘，被欺骗喝下毒药而成了替死鬼。对爱执著的婴宁，决定不顾一切到阴间救回情郎，才发现。。。
Inspired by the colourful folk stories of Qing dynasty classic ‘The Strange Tales of Liao Zhai’, Liao Zhai Rocks! vamps up all things period and brings you into a fantastical world of captivating characters. The scholar, Sang Xiao, wins the affections of Ying Ning, a vixen spirit, only to fall for the ploy of a duplicitous ghost. But when he is poisoned and cast into the underworld, it is the vixen spirit who, driven by true love, embarks on a perilous journey to save him…
Rachel and I fell in love with last year’s 《天冷就回来》(If There’re Seasons…), produced by The Theatre Practice, with the musical talent of Liang Wern-Fook (梁文福). Hence we were really looking forward to catching this year’s Liao Zhai Rocks! which involves similar directing and producing talents, with the musical talents of composer Eric Ng (黄韵仁) and lyricist Xiaohan (小寒).
Overall, we enjoyed the stage extravagant for Liao Zhai with its colourful costumes and innovative fusing of traditional Chinese folklore with rock music. The story was simple to understand and the music was moving.
The only minor complain we have is that both of us found the male lead a little lacking in manliness. Maybe the casting was deliberate as olden days Chinese scholars should be this way, but we just could not feel the chemistry between the male lead and the two female leads, unlike in If There’re Seasons…
Still, it’s a production worth every dollar to watch. You can check out their official website or watch these trailers below if you are not convinced:
Behind the scene:
[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/v/eGwWn1BSvsc&hl=en_US&fs=1&”]Raving Reviews of Liao Zhai Rocks!:
[youtube url=”http://www.youtube.com/v/R0G8OwjKE8Q&hl=en_US&fs=1&”]Technorati Tags: 聊斋 rocks, 聊斋, liao zhai rocks!, liao zhai rocks, eric ng, xiaohan, liang wern-fook, 实践剧场, the theatre practice, drama centre theatre, TTP 250th production, TTP, TTP Singapore, TTP 45th anniversary, 聊斋志异, the strange tales of liao zhai, ying ning, sang xiao, 婴宁, 桑晓, 小寒, 黄韵仁, 天冷就回来, if there’re seasons
