Mainland avant-garde playwright Meng Jinghui goes mainstream
He packs out theatres all over China, but has the one-time darling of mainland avant-garde drama gone mainstream? Fiona Tam finds out
Potbellied and sloppily dressed, Liu Xiaoye gives little indication that he's one of the mainland's most popular stage actors, maintaining the same image outside the theatre as his most famous role in it.
Liu, 36, has acted and taught drama for more than a decade. However, it wasn't until he took up one of the two titular roles in Two Dogs' Opinions on Life, a dark comedy by avant-garde playwright Meng Jinghui, that he began to gain recognition.
Two Dogs has been performed across the country more than 1,200 times since it premiered in 2007, setting a record for mainland experimental theatre. This feat is surpassed only by Rhinoceros in Love, another play directed by Meng, that has been staged 1,500 times since 1999.
With changes in society, what was considered to be avant-garde 20 years ago is now deemed to be popular
"We have three groups of actors and crew that can stage Two Dogs in different provinces at the same time," Liu says, following a recent run in Shenzhen.
Liu's ensemble has presented the play about 200 times annually on a tour that has taken them to 27 provinces so far; the only places they have not performed in are the island province of Hainan, and the remote regions of Gansu, Ningxia and Tibet.
Han Pengyi, who has played the elder of the two canines for the past six years, attributes the drama's enduring appeal to the way it has been able to reflect the frustrations and suffering of the lower classes.
The black comedy, which depicts the hardship and injustices that two country dogs encounter as they travel to the big city to pursue their dreams, has resonated with thousands of so-called beipiao or Beijing drifters. Young graduates who leave their hometowns in search of a better future in the major cities, beipiao struggle to get ahead and most languish at the bottom of social pile.