'Butterflies Are Free' alights in city
By Nie Xin |
April 11, 2012, Wednesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
Program Code: 0909346130306014
"Butterflies Are Free," a famous play about a sightless young man who leaves his domineering mother and falls in love with a hippie, will remind Chinese (and other) audiences of how hard it is to break free of mother.
This version of the classic romantic comedy in Chinese stars Hong Kong actress Perry Chiu as the free-spirited young woman who helps the young man live a full and rich life. It is based on a popular 1969 Broadway production and a 1972 film of the same name.
The play will be performed on Saturday and Sunday at Shanghai Art Theater. It debuted on the Chinese mainland 11 years ago and was highly successful, with Chiu in the starring role. She will be joined in the upcoming show by senior actors from the Shanghai Drama Art Center.
The title was inspired by a passage in Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" - "I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free. Mankind will surely not deny to Harold Skimpole what it concedes to the butterflies."
It's the story of a young man who is born sightless and lives with his protective mother who doesn't want to let him go or see his heart broken. He finally moves out but promises to move back in two months if all isn't well and he cannot make it on his own. They talk all the time on the phone.
He then meets a new neighbor, a hippie, a flower child - it's set in San Francisco - who brings fun into his life. His mother finds them in bed together.
Chiu, whom many call a Hong Kong "drama queen," had graduated from acting school earlier and "Butterflies Are Free" was her first big, successful role. Famous Hong Kong director Clifton Ko, who directed her in an earlier performance, remembers that she was "talented but lacking confidence."
Chiu was born in Beijing in the early 1970s and moved to Hong Kong with her family at the age of four. Her father was a Peking Opera actor and her mother was a dancer.
"I love art and dreamed of being an actress, but in the first two years after graduation, I didn't have good opportunities," Chiu says.
"Butterflies" brought her confidence. Thanks to the show, she went on to play many successful roles and founded her own group, Ciu Woon Experimental Theater.
"My group is called 'female theater' by Hong Kong media since my works mainly focus on women's life, love and thinking," says Ciu, who is also adventurous and open-minded about theater. She was one of the readers in "The Vagina Monolgues" in 2006.
"I don't care what others say. If you want to be a good actress, you should be 'the one, the best and the different one'," Chiu says.
She also performs musical theater. In "A Woman Easy to Hurt," regarded as her biography, Chiu sings more than 30 of Faye Wong's songs.
She focuses on the stage and has rejected many offers to perform in film and on television.
"I can only focus on one thing. I am not used to the fast tempo of film shooting. For me, it takes time to understand a role, stay with the role, and get into it," she says.
"The key difference (in playing 'Butterflies' today) is that I am mature, with more experience in real life," says Chiu. "I have more mature understanding of my role, love and life."
Date: April 13-14, 7:30pm
Venue: Shanghai Art Theater, 466 Jiangning Rd
Tickets: 180-680 yuan (US$28.66-108.28)
Tel: 962-388
This version of the classic romantic comedy in Chinese stars Hong Kong actress Perry Chiu as the free-spirited young woman who helps the young man live a full and rich life. It is based on a popular 1969 Broadway production and a 1972 film of the same name.
The play will be performed on Saturday and Sunday at Shanghai Art Theater. It debuted on the Chinese mainland 11 years ago and was highly successful, with Chiu in the starring role. She will be joined in the upcoming show by senior actors from the Shanghai Drama Art Center.
The title was inspired by a passage in Charles Dickens' "Bleak House" - "I only ask to be free. The butterflies are free. Mankind will surely not deny to Harold Skimpole what it concedes to the butterflies."
It's the story of a young man who is born sightless and lives with his protective mother who doesn't want to let him go or see his heart broken. He finally moves out but promises to move back in two months if all isn't well and he cannot make it on his own. They talk all the time on the phone.
He then meets a new neighbor, a hippie, a flower child - it's set in San Francisco - who brings fun into his life. His mother finds them in bed together.
Chiu, whom many call a Hong Kong "drama queen," had graduated from acting school earlier and "Butterflies Are Free" was her first big, successful role. Famous Hong Kong director Clifton Ko, who directed her in an earlier performance, remembers that she was "talented but lacking confidence."
Chiu was born in Beijing in the early 1970s and moved to Hong Kong with her family at the age of four. Her father was a Peking Opera actor and her mother was a dancer.
"I love art and dreamed of being an actress, but in the first two years after graduation, I didn't have good opportunities," Chiu says.
"Butterflies" brought her confidence. Thanks to the show, she went on to play many successful roles and founded her own group, Ciu Woon Experimental Theater.
"My group is called 'female theater' by Hong Kong media since my works mainly focus on women's life, love and thinking," says Ciu, who is also adventurous and open-minded about theater. She was one of the readers in "The Vagina Monolgues" in 2006.
"I don't care what others say. If you want to be a good actress, you should be 'the one, the best and the different one'," Chiu says.
She also performs musical theater. In "A Woman Easy to Hurt," regarded as her biography, Chiu sings more than 30 of Faye Wong's songs.
She focuses on the stage and has rejected many offers to perform in film and on television.
"I can only focus on one thing. I am not used to the fast tempo of film shooting. For me, it takes time to understand a role, stay with the role, and get into it," she says.
"The key difference (in playing 'Butterflies' today) is that I am mature, with more experience in real life," says Chiu. "I have more mature understanding of my role, love and life."
Date: April 13-14, 7:30pm
Venue: Shanghai Art Theater, 466 Jiangning Rd
Tickets: 180-680 yuan (US$28.66-108.28)
Tel: 962-388
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
