Oscar-winning art director debuts play on Shanghai stage
Hong Kong art director Tim Yip's first stage play "Love in a Fallen City" premiered at Shanghai Grand Theater this week.
Yip is best known for his costume and visual designs for stage and fiction films. His most renowned works include the 2000 martial arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," for which he won an Academy Award for Best Art Direction.
As a stage play director for the first time, Yip's latest creation merges film clips with a traditional stage performance, something he deems experimental.
"The clips showcase characters' inner emotions," he said.
The play stars Song Yang (right) and Wan Qian.
"Love in a Fallen City" is based on a 1943 novel of the same name by Eileen Chang. The story is set in the 1940s in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Beautiful divorcee Bai Liusu lives in Shanghai, and has been isolated by her family who are ashamed of her divorce.
Fan Liuyuan, a bachelor recently returned to his mother country from England, meets a matchmaker who introduces him to Bai's younger sister, but Fan is more interested in Bai.
Bai follows Fan to Hong Kong, with the aim of getting married and enjoying economic stability. Over time, however, Bai doubts Fan's intentions, and returns to Shanghai, where she copes with her family's coldness and despairing future.
Bai goes to Hong Kong again at Fan's call before the Japanese invasion. The fall of the city makes them realize that their relationship is comparatively enduring amid the tribulation, and they finally tie the knot.
"Love in a Fallen City" is based on a 1943 novel of the same name by Eileen Chang.
The story, Chang's signature work, portrays a troubled romance that finally comes to fruition, but the inner emptiness of the characters is showcased through witty conversation and relentless gossip throughout the novel.
Hong Kong director Ann Hui adapted it into a movie in 1984, starring Chow Yun-fat. It was later adapted into a TV series by the China Television Production Center in 2009.
Yip's stage edition of "Love in a Fallen City" has its distinguishing features. The play starts with a seven-minute film clip of Bai and Fan meeting for the first time at a restaurant ball. Through a transparent screen, the audience observes real-life actors performing at the same time.
Apart from synchronized plots, the film clips at times enhance performers' subtle movements or highlight characters' childhood memories. Sometimes the clips simply mirror characters' mental activity.
The film clips at times enhance performers' subtle movements or mirror characters' mental activity.
"Chang doesn't provide a thorough description of characters in her novel," said Yip. "It's a very subjective way of writing as she describes a world purely from her own eyes. We don't always understand the reasons why characters make certain decisions."
Exploring the mysterious connection between Bai and Liu is Yip's purpose and challenge while working on the play, he said.
"Fan is sincere and sophisticated. Bai seeks economic stability instead of love, but somehow generates a kind of feeling for Fan." Yip added that he feels elements of their ambiguous relationship can be captured particularly well on film.
A Y-shaped rotatable structure takes up the center of the stage, conducive to frequent scene change. Apart from stage design, Yip devoted much effort to costume design, especially the qipao dresses, a symbol of Eastern aesthetics.
The stage features a Y-shaped rotatable structure.
"To me, Bai is a classic beauty – old-fashioned, conservative, but beautiful," he said. "This kind of beauty is showcased both in her personality and attire."
The script was completed by playwright Zhang Chang in 2019.
"I'm happy that we can bring the play to Shanghai, a city that has so much connection with the novel and its author," said Zhang, who has been reading and studying Chang's works since he was a teenager.
"Unlike traditional stage plays filled with strong lines and dramatic twists, this production touches the heart gently," he said. "There are many moments when an individual character stays alone in a room, a challenge for the actor and the audience alike."
From left: Playwright Zhang Chang, choreographer Carolyn Choa, director Tim Yip, actor Song Yang and director Li Xiaoping take a group photo at Shanghai Grand Theater.
Zhang said most of his favorite scenes of the play are silent.
"There is a scene when Bai is packing her luggage before heading to Hong Kong again for Fan," he said. "She is sorting and counting her dresses one by one, as if she were assessing her own value and chances for fixing her relationship. It's not a complicated story. But viewers who have read the original novel will no doubt be able to appreciate the play's nuances."
Zhang added: "It's difficult to adapt Chang's novel. People like her works not only for the story but also the atmosphere behind her writing."
The play stars actor Song Yang and actress Wan Qian. After the premiere in Shanghai, it will go on to meet audiences in Hangzhou and Changsha.
