Jin Shijie -- life is like a play
- By Li Shen
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, January 8, 2015
As one of the most prominent Chinese-speaking stage and screen actors of our era, Jin Shijie has brought us many unforgettable characters like Jiang Binliu in the play "Secret Love in the Land of Peach Blossoms," Fifth Master in the movie "The Grandmaster," and Uncle Bai in the TV drama "In Time with You." People in theater say that even the wrinkles on Jin's forehead can act.
From Jan. 3 to Jan. 10, Jin is starring in a production of "Tuesdays with Morrie" at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. In this play, adapted from famous American writer Mitch Albom's best-selling book "Tuesdays with Morrie," Jin plays Professor Morrie, who suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (referred to as ALS) and has only a few months left to live.
|
|
|
Jin Shijie plays Professor Morrie on the stage. [File photo] |
The play depicts 14 meetings between Morrie and his former student, Mitch, who is now a successful sports columnist who nonetheless feels lost in life. Morrie imparts his life experience and sentiments to Mitch in conversations on themes like acceptance, love, values, happiness and death.
Jin has overwhelmed audiences with his consummate skill and natural acting, and the play has repeatedly encored and caused a sensation in drama circles since its debut in Taipei in February 2011. Jin and his partner will present their 150th performance in Beijing on Jan. 9.
Initially, Jin did not like the play. "It's just chicken soup for the soul, boring and cliché," he said. But the revised version inspired him: "I found a game between the two characters. Morrie has a dying body but a strong will and an optimistic mind, while Mitch is healthy but indifferent and materialistic. Physically, Mitch is a giant while Morrie is a dwarf. But mentally, it's the opposite."
To Jin, the most appealing character of Morrie is his great courage and humor in the face of death. He appreciates Morrie's line in the play, "To know death is to know life."
"The Chinese treat death with so much sorrow and sadness nowadays. Our ancestors may have been freer and easier than us on this issue," Jin said. Funerals in China must be very solemn and melancholy or they will be considered disrespectful to the deceased. "Morrie's way of saying goodbye offers us an offbeat approach to this issue. Let us understand and praise life from a broader perspective," Jin said.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)