Meng Jinghui explores sex, lies, vertigo and injustice
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Leading theater director Meng Jinghui's experimental works never fail to stir up a storm. His latest, Metamorphosis of Butterfly, promises to be no exeption.
Based on the scripts and novels of Friedrich Drrenmatt, the Swiss author and dramatist known for his avant-garde dramas and often macabre satire, Metamorphosis of Butterfly is based on the 1956 tragi-comic play The Visit.
It tells the story of a hideous and hideously wealthy old woman returning to the town of her youth, to avenge a past wrong.
According to Meng, the works of Drrenmatt bear some similarities to the current realities of Chinese society. "I love the author's blend of humor, horror and vertigo," Meng says.
A major theme of the play - which revolves around sex, lies and injustice - is the tension between greed and humanity. Meng says, through this drama, he wants to express his understanding of how and why people switch from the pursuit of dreams to the pursuit of money.
"The audience will find that all the characters in the drama are shameless," he says. "But they are simply going through this transition."
The play's wild gestures, nudity and audacious dialogue are a challenge for both the audience and the actors. "They have to be brave to act in this drama," Meng says.
Metamorphosis of Butterfly gathers relatively unknown young actors. But, although young, they have starred in his previous works such as Rhinoceros in Love and Love is Colder than Death, he adds.
"They wanted to express their creativity so I have let them design the clothes, and do the music and choreography for this drama," he says.
The result is a bold set design that has the stage covered in mud and sand, iron chains hanging in the air, to create an air of an abandoned industrial city.
Meng's wife, renowned scriptwriter Liao Yimei, says the drama also marks her husband's return to the cynicism and restlessness of his youth.
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