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.