The hugely popular Green Ray Theatre Company (綠光劇團) makes a welcome return to the National Theater this weekend with a revamped and reworked production of its hit satirical comedy Blame it on the Draft (都是當兵惹的禍).
By calling on the talents of renowned movie and television commercial director Wu Nien-jen (
Established in 1993 by playwright Luo Bei-an (羅北安), Green Ray Theatre began life as a low budget repertory company performing mainstream dramas at small independent theaters in and around Taipei. In 1994 the group's production of Neck Ties and High Heeled Shoes (領帶與高跟鞋) saw the troupe blending contemporary music with dance, drama and heavy doses of social commentary. It proved an overnight success.
Hailed by critics and audiences the production transformed the former fringe theater troupe into one of Taiwan's leading theatrical groups almost overnight.
Green Ray's most popular productions have over the years been those that have blended age-old Chinese storylines with modern day social commentary and satire.
"Since the troupe's initial success 12 years ago it has become one of the most versatile groups in Taiwan," said Green Ray's Joyce Chiou (
Along with its ability to successfully combine highly contrasting forms of entertainment, the troupe also employs cutting edge theatrical techniques with fantastical stage sets and eccentric costumes in order to add an even greater sense of outlandishness to its productions.
Adapted from the Yuan dynasty (1279 to 1368) opera Shi Junbao (石君寶), Blame it on the Draft was first brought to the stage of the Experimental Theater by Green Ray in 1995. Now, nearly a decade after it was first staged Luo and Wu have breathed new life into the production. Instead of opting for an opera-trained cast they have employed a contrasting cast of players.
The revamped production of Blame it on the Draft sees Beijing opera stars Li Shao-ping (李小平) and Lang Tzu-ming (郎祖明) joining forces for the first time with acclaimed traditional Chinese stand-up comic and star of countless sitcoms Lang Tzu-yun (郎祖筠), plus comedian Fan Guang-yao (樊光耀), who was last seen portraying the unlucky and unshaven guy on recent TV commercials for the online shopping Web site Ebay.
Blame it on the Draft follows the trials and tribulations of Chiu Hu (Li Shao-ping), who, the day after marrying the beautiful Mei Ying (Lang Tzu-yun) is drafted into the army to begin his 10 years of military service. After completing his service and successfully surviving the military regimen Chiu Hu hurries home to be with the woman he still loves but hasn't seen for a decade.
All, however, is not well, as Mei Ying has found another suitor in the form of the evil minded and unscrupulous Li Da-hu (Lang Tzu-ming). Upon discovering his wife's duplicity Chiu Hu sets out to win her back. In the process he finds himself trying to outwit his wife's self-serving suitor in more ways than he initially expected.
"We figured that to make it relevant to today we had to alter some of the more outdated ideas that were a major aspect of the original opera," Chiou said. "We obviously had to make the heroine more independently minded, which meant changing not only the script but also the ending. In the original piece she kills herself because she feels the need to be faithful to the husband she hasn't seen in 10 years. Nobody would believe this today."
It's not just the script that has been altered in order that the production appeal to today's broader and more open-minded audiences. To bring the moralistic Yuan dynasty opera up to date, Green Ray has transformed it into part Broadway production, part situation comedy and part traditional Chinese operatic fantasy.
Along with the incorporation of a Broadway-styled musical score the actors movements are an integral part of Blame it on the Draft. The performers actions are stylized in a Beijing opera-like manner and the fight scenes have been specially choreographed so as to put more emphasis on comedic animation and subtlety rather than Hong Kong movie-like bravado.
In order to produce the visual effects needed to stage the farce, Green Ray called on award winning costume designer Chen Bo-wei (陳柏維), who, when he's not busy creating theatrical costumes for many of Taiwan's leading theater troupes is better known by his assumed name of Mr Eyeball. For Blame it on the Draft Chen has let his rampant and screwball imagination run riot.
By seamlessly combining and intertwining aspects of modern and original Yuan dynasty period clothing, Chen has created a visually stunning never-never land in which the bizarre costumes supplement the already farcical performance.
And it's not only the costumes that have been given the Mr Eyeball treatment. In order to make the play's villain look less like a Yuan dynasty hoodlum and more like a latter-day member of an organized crime syndicate Chen opted to give the play's villain a gaudy tight perm.
Working closely with Chen is set designer Sammy Wang (王世信), whose colorful and stylized production combines realism with a cartoon-like environment in which the play's hero and villain battle it out for the hand and love of Mei Ying.
"The combination of the old and the new means that the production should appeal to those who enjoy classical opera as well younger audiences for whom opera is considered old fashioned," Chiou said. "It's got something for everyone. There's a beautiful woman, there's a hero and a villain and there's love."
Performance note:
What: Green Ray Theatre's Blame it on the Draft
Where: National Theater, 21 Zhongshan S Rd, Taipei (
When: Today through Sunday. Evening performances begin at 7:30pm and afternoon matinees tomorrow and Sunday at 2:30pm.
Tickets: Tickets cost from NT$350 to NT$1,600 and are available from ERA Ticketing outlets nationwide or direct from the box office at the Chiang Kai-shek Cultural Center.
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