Einstein’s Dream
Program Information
| Genre / City | Theatre / Beijing |
|---|---|
| Dates | 29 April at 13:30, 30 April at 13:30 |
| Venue | at Shizuoka Arts Theatre |
| Duration | 75 minutes → 85 minutes |
| Language | In multiple languages with Japanese subtitle |
| Seat | Reserved seating |
| Direction | MENG Jinghui |
| Production |
North Park Theatre MENG Theatre Studio |
Introduction
Urged by a lovely singing voice “Go to sleep now,” they dozed off and fell in love while inspired by lofty worlds — and danced!
“Einstein’s Dream,” which has its Japan premier at the festival, is a delightful avant-garde physical-theatre play that uses recorded voices and draws on letters written by the physics genius Albert Einstein, Franz Kafka’s novels “The Castle” and “A Country Doctor,” and excerpts from works by the Italian writer Italo Calvino.
Here, Einstein falls in love with a woman playing the violin, and a traveler leading a horse falls in love with a doctor’s assistant; while Kafka is drunk and lost in memories of his lover, who has been given too much coffee and is trapped by the singing of her family …
Staged with trailblazing creativity by Chinese director MENG Jinghui, this experimental work uses diverse artistic styles including installations and video as it travels around its characters’ dream worlds. The stage is a splendid harmony of humorous, exciting drama with a bit of satire. Together with its dance, visual images and music, “Einstein’s Dream” is sure to make its audiences very happy in their time and space.
Synopsis
The vision on stage is like two mirrors facing each other, there are beds and fuzzy TV screens, and a sofa wrapped in sheets is floating on the ceiling. A mysterious party is being held and wobbly drunken men and women in smart clothes are gathering. They keep repeating words and phrases, and their speech sounds like avant-garde music. Ronde dancers race through, looking like sprinting horses. Then after a voice announces “Go to sleep now,” a drowsy Einstein falls in love with several women and is inspired by words from Kafka and starts dancing in the winding street to the castle. So, as those on stage stroll through space and time discussing love, human’s joy and loneliness, a sense of estrangement slowly pervades the piece.
Director’s Profile
MENG Jinghui
A theatre director. His theatre creations extract the reality entanglement, emotional confusion, and human dilemma in ordinary life through different perspectives. His creations include expression-istic ego involvement, new objectivity’s sober rumination, the wanderings in the aesthetic of an absurdist. He has a unique style, and revolutionized contemporary theater by sending a torrent of diverse new voices onto the stage. His idiosyncratic and diverse artistic style have developed into a cultural phenomenon.
His notable stage productions include: Rhinoceros in Love, Opinions about Life from Two Dogs, Teahouse, To Live, Red and Black, The Seventh Day, Linchuan Four Dreams, Amber, The Murder of Hanging Garden, Soft, A Letter From A Woman Unknown, Bonjour Tristesse, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, He Had Two Pistols with Black and White Eyes, The Bedbug, The Good Person of Si-chuan, Guns Lies and Roses, I Love XXX, Newest Concept of the End-result of Love, Mermaid in the Backwater.
Wrote Meng Jinghui’s Avant-Garde Drama and New Avant-Garde Archive.
Meng Jinghui’s works has presented in many international art festivals, also toured in Germany, the United States, Japan, France, the United Kingdoms, Italy, Spain, Australia, Brazil, Egypt and so on.
In recent years, Meng founded and served as the artistic director of the Beijing International Fringe Festival, Wuzhen Festival, Hangzhou International Theatre Festival, Aranya Theater Festi-val, Shenzhen Contemporary Theatre Biennale, and other major theatre festivals.
Cast / Staff
Director: MENG Jinghui
Lighting Designer: CHEN Nan
Sound Designer: ZHANG Xinnan
Cast: HAN Xu, LIU Yanan, PENG Lou, SU Yurun, SUN Rongjing, WANG Shuhao, WANG Ying, WANG Yusheng, WEI Jia, ZHANG Han
Band: EB Virus (HUA Shan, WANG Chuang)
Designer / Technic Director: YU Lei
Stage manager: XI Shengli
Settings: ZHAO Yan
Make up, Wardrobe: LIU Jing
Executive Producer: GAO Ruiqi
Assistant director: LI Huayi
International Production: Hybridités France-Chine
International Producer: WANG Jing
<Staff>
Stage manager: HARAIKAWA Yukio
Stage: FURUYA Kazumi, YEH Chiahsing, TAKEISHI Morimasa
Lighting: HIGUCHI Masayuki, HANAWA Yuki
Sound: MAKI Daisuke, OTSUKI Minori
Wardrobe: SATO Rise
Interpretation: HUANG Suying
Subtitle translation: IIZUKA Yutori, XIONG Chutian, XIONG Chuyue
Subtitle supervisor: SONODA Shoko
Production: TAKABAYASHI Rie, SAKANAKA Toshiki, TOYOSHIMA Yuji
Technical director: MURAMATSU Atsushi
Lighting manager: HIGUCHI Masayuki
Sound manager: SAWADA Yukino
Under the auspices of Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Japan
Talk
◎Pre-performance talk: Starting 25 minutes before each performance
Enjoy your festival day!
