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RHINOCEROS IN LOVE

2 years ago

 

THE NATIONAL THEATRE OF CHINA
By Liao Yimei
Directed by Meng Jinghui
Friday 8 March - Tuesday 12 March, 2013
Maidment Theatre, Auckland University
NEW ZEALAND PREMIERE
Credit checks of prospective partners, a flooded stage and Mandarin rhyming slang are just some of what audiences can expect from China's most renowned play of all time, Rhinoceros in Love, which opens on 8 March. Auckland Arts Festival is delighted to be bringing the National Theatre of China and this ground-breaking masterpiece of contemporary drama to New Zealand for the first time.
Revolutionary and refreshing, Liao Yimei's beautiful allegory gives voice to the maladies of young, urbanised Chinese, lost and in love. Weaving tragedy with humour, it tells the tale of rhinoceros keeper Ma Lu, a man who develops a dangerous romantic fascination with his neighbour, the unobtainable Mingming. Ma has done everything in his power to win Mingming's heart until one night, mad and stubborn as a rhino, he captures her and holds her hostage. An edgy and energetic production, dusted with dark romance, Rhinoceros in Love exposes the extremes people will go to for love.
Directed by Yimei's husband, Meng Jinghui, and first performed in 1999, this dynamic work reinvented modern Chinese theatre. August 2012 marked Rhinoceros in Love's 1000th performance and it is still going strong, playing every night in Beijing to packed houses and touring to international festivals, including Brisbane and Melbourne Festivals where the show was one of the must-sees.
Innovative staging combined with a soundtrack straight from the C-Pop Top 20, the 20-year-olds in this absurd world are swept up in a turbo-charged consumer culture and find the path to true love in ways far from the arranged marriages of their parents and grandparents.
Liao Yimei is the resident playwright of the National Theatre of China. Along with Rhinoceros in Love, she has also written a number of successful films, including Chicken Poet (also directed by Meng Jinghui), which was accepted for numerous international film festivals and won the FIPRESCI Award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. A Tender Song won a gold medal at the Memphis Women's Film Festival in the US. Liao has also written novels Pessimist's Bouquet and Amber.
Meng Jinghui - known as one of China's most innovative directors - founded the Beijing Youth Theatre Festival in 2008 and has served as Artistic Director since then, along with his role as Director of the National Theatre of China.
The 60-year old National Theatre of China is China's largest permanent theatre company with over 600 employees and 300 actors on staff. It has three modern venues in Beijing as well as touring nationally with many productions each year. At any one time they are creating new productions as well as presenting in Beijing and on the road. The Company has performed internationally at many festivals, including Avignon, Edinburgh and Melbourne. In March 2013, it will premier The Green Snake, a new co-commission from Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Shanghai International Arts Festival. The Green Snake is a collaboration with the National Theatre of Scotland. Both companies will be at the Auckland Arts Festival 2013.
www.aaf.co.nz
Visually rich, the dialogue is fast, the music modern and the result is emotionally engaging. - The Age
This is a dark, edgy production that burns in the memory long after the final curtain. - Australian Stage
SEASON DETAILS
Show Rhinoceros in Love
Where Maidment Theatre, Auckland University
When Friday 8 March - Tuesday 12 March, 7pm
Duration 1hr 45min no interval
Language Performed in Mandarin with English surtitles
Contains coarse language, smoke
Post-show talk Monday 11 March
Price A Res $65 / Friend/Conc/Group $59
B Res $53 / Friend/Conc/Group $48
Bookings Book at THE EDGE: www.buytickets.co.nz / 09 357 3355 / 0800 289 842
Group bookings: groups@the-edge.co.nz / 09 357 3354
Maidment: www.maidment.auckland.ac.nz / 09 308 2383
Information www.aaf.co.nz
Social Media Facebook: facebook.com/Aklfestival
Twitter: @Aklfestival
Media enquiries Siobhan Waterhouse, Publicist. P: +64 (0)9 374 0317 | M: +64 (0) 22 126  4149
E: siobhan.waterhouse@aucklandfestival.co.nz
CREATIVE CREDITS
Writer: Liao Yimei
Director: Meng Jinghui
With support from Ministry for Culture and Heritage of the People's Republic of China and the Asia NZ Foundation.

 

THE NATIONAL THEATRE OF CHINA

 

By Liao Yimei

Directed by Meng Jinghui

 

Friday 8 March - Tuesday 12 March, 2013

Maidment Theatre, Auckland University

 

NEW ZEALAND PREMIERE

 

Credit checks of prospective partners, a flooded stage and Mandarin rhyming slang are just some of what audiences can expect from China's most renowned play of all time, Rhinoceros in Love, which opens on 8 March. Auckland Arts Festival is delighted to be bringing the National Theatre of China and this ground-breaking masterpiece of contemporary drama to New Zealand for the first time.

 

Revolutionary and refreshing, Liao Yimei's beautiful allegory gives voice to the maladies of young, urbanised Chinese, lost and in love. Weaving tragedy with humour, it tells the tale of rhinoceros keeper Ma Lu, a man who develops a dangerous romantic fascination with his neighbour, the unobtainable Mingming. Ma has done everything in his power to win Mingming's heart until one night, mad and stubborn as a rhino, he captures her and holds her hostage. An edgy and energetic production, dusted with dark romance, Rhinoceros in Love exposes the extremes people will go to for love.

 

Directed by Yimei's husband, Meng Jinghui, and first performed in 1999, this dynamic work reinvented modern Chinese theatre. August 2012 marked Rhinoceros in Love's 1000th performance and it is still going strong, playing every night in Beijing to packed houses and touring to international festivals, including Brisbane and Melbourne Festivals where the show was one of the must-sees.

 

Innovative staging combined with a soundtrack straight from the C-Pop Top 20, the 20-year-olds in this absurd world are swept up in a turbo-charged consumer culture and find the path to true love in ways far from the arranged marriages of their parents and grandparents.

 

Liao Yimei is the resident playwright of the National Theatre of China. Along with Rhinoceros in Love, she has also written a number of successful films, including Chicken Poet (also directed by Meng Jinghui), which was accepted for numerous international film festivals and won the FIPRESCI Award at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. A Tender Song won a gold medal at the Memphis Women's Film Festival in the US. Liao has also written novels Pessimist's Bouquet and Amber.

 

Meng Jinghui - known as one of China's most innovative directors - founded the Beijing Youth Theatre Festival in 2008 and has served as Artistic Director since then, along with his role as Director of the National Theatre of China.

 

The 60-year old National Theatre of China is China's largest permanent theatre company with over 600 employees and 300 actors on staff. It has three modern venues in Beijing as well as touring nationally with many productions each year. At any one time they are creating new productions as well as presenting in Beijing and on the road. The Company has performed internationally at many festivals, including Avignon, Edinburgh and Melbourne. In March 2013, it will premier The Green Snake, a new co-commission from Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Shanghai International Arts Festival. The Green Snake is a collaboration with the National Theatre of Scotland. Both companies will be at the Auckland Arts Festival 2013.

www.aaf.co.nz

 

Visually rich, the dialogue is fast, the music modern and the result is emotionally engaging. - The Age

 

This is a dark, edgy production that burns in the memory long after the final curtain. - Australian Stage

 

SEASON DETAILS

 

Show Rhinoceros in Love

Where Maidment Theatre, Auckland University

When Friday 8 March - Tuesday 12 March, 7pm

Duration 1hr 45min no interval

Language Performed in Mandarin with English surtitles

Contains coarse language, smoke

Post-show talk Monday 11 March

Price A Res $65 / Friend/Conc/Group $59

B Res $53 / Friend/Conc/Group $48

Bookings Book at THE EDGE: www.buytickets.co.nz / 09 357 3355 / 0800 289 842

Group bookings: groups@the-edge.co.nz / 09 357 3354

Maidment: www.maidment.auckland.ac.nz / 09 308 2383

Information www.aaf.co.nz

Social Media Facebook: facebook.com/Aklfestival

Twitter: @Aklfestival

Media enquiries Siobhan Waterhouse, Publicist. P: +64 (0)9 374 0317 | M: +64 (0) 22 126  4149  | E: siobhan.waterhouse@aucklandfestival.co.nz

 

CREATIVE CREDITS

 

Writer: Liao Yimei

Director: Meng Jinghui


With support from Ministry for Culture and Heritage of the People's Republic of China and the Asia NZ Foundation.