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Spinning a simple tale of revenge
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CURTAIN’S up. Drum beats resonate with the melodic sound of the guqin, a stringed instrument.
Four actors resembling monks sit on the stage and grind inksticks. Drum beats rush and they get up, each moving behind one scroll. Thin black brush lines start dancing on the scrolls until the drum beat stops — and four simple ink-wash paintings of mountains are finished.
In the next 70 minutes of this show called “Casting Sword,” the four scrolls, mixed with lighting and minimalist projections, are turned into gates, walls, cities, fire and more.
The scrolls also convey an important message — leaving blank is important, as is in ink-water paintings.
“I wanted to make a very ‘economic’ performance,” says director Wu Xi, who says he wants to eliminate all the clutter often seen in other shows.
“Maybe I have watched too many ‘overly extravagant’ shows recently, with extensive effects and so many ideas, overflowing jokes ... these shows make me feel like I’m being choked. So I aimed for a simple, powerful, non-pretentious show.”
The story is about revenge.
The son of a master sword-maker learns his father was killed by the king after he had given him a great sword. The king did not want him to make a better one for anyone else. Little does the king know that the sword-maker’s son wields another sword and plots his revenge.
Words have been stripped to the minimum, while the story and its rhythm, especially the comic moments, are mainly accomplished through the actors’ physical movements.
“This is a show where you can find fun in the blank spaces,” Wu says. “Where you find powerful performances in silence.”
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