Few may have believed that a group of US teens could perform Chinese Mermaid, a classical Chinese play for children, fully in Chinese, but they would have been proven wrong as those US teens made a successful debut on Saturday, kicking off the 12th China Children’s Theater Festival in Beijing.
The 15 teens, aged between 12 and 17, are from four cities in Montana and California. They stood out from more than 200 children who auditioned for the play and spent almost two years rehearsing, according to Chen Suhan, director and producer of the play’s US version.
“Their performance was incredible,” commented a middle school student who attended the show’s daytime performance on Sunday. “They speak Chinese so well and it’s no easy task that they have memorized all the lines of this more than one-hour-long play,” he added.
The show’s success is thanks to the China-US Youth Theater Exchange Program, supported by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation, affiliated with China’s Ministry of Education. The program combines theater and Chinese language learning to promote language education exchanges and youth exchanges between China and the US.
In 2022 April, China National Theater for Children authorized the Rocky Mountain Ballet Theater in Montana to re-arrange and rehearse this Chinese classic.
Debuting in 1980 at China National Theater for Children, Chinese Mermaid was written by Huang Zongjiang and Ruan Dandi and is based on folklore. It follows Jin Zhuzi, a kind, brave, and determined boy who spent his whole life going above and beyond to rescue Cai Ping, a kind-hearted girl who was kidnapped by an evil Dragon Prince and turned into a mermaid.
The American theater incorporated ballet into the play and taught actors the Chinese language and culture.
“We condensed the play and made the lines simpler and more colloquial for the American children because many of them had never learned Chinese before this,” said Chen, who also served as a line instructor.
Because of the pandemic, most training and language learning was done online, and everybody flew to Montana for in-person training three times, Chen said. Since arriving in Beijing on July 5, the cast, dressed in the tailor-made costumes prepared for them, launched into intensive rehearsals for another ten days.
“All the kids have worked so hard over the last two years, and I feel so proud to see their amazing performance,” Chen said.
For American teens, coming to China to perform a Chinese play is also an unforgettable experience.
Amare Swierc who plays Cai Ping, the mermaid, called her experience a magical, once-in-a-lifetime one.
Meilin Jokela who acts as Jin Zhuzi, said it always felt unreal when she started practicing lines and participating in rehearsals in the US, and coming to Beijing to finally perform on such a beautiful stage is like a dream come true.
Maya Guinto, who plays the grandma of Jin Zhuzi, is of Chinese descent. She said she is thankful for the play because it gave her the opportunity to return to her birthplace to perform.
“Theater for children and young people is a ‘world language’ that enables children of different countries and races to instantly communicate without words. Theater for children and young people is the seed of innocence, kindness and beauty. It is also the seed of love, culture and friendship from which sprouts blossoms of the utmost beauty,” remarked Feng Li, president of China National Theater for Children.
Hosted by the China National Theater for Children, the 12th China Children’s Theater Festival runs through Aug 20. During the festival, 24 theaters from home and abroad will stage 262 performances of 41 plays.
For the first time, the festival has set up a special online section showcasing exceptional international children’s drama. Audiences will be treated to eight foreign productions, offering a glimpse into diverse customs and artistic styles from seven countries: Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, Israel, Cyprus, Romania and South Africa. These dramas will be streamed for free on popular social media platforms such as Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok) and China’s Twitter-like Weibo.
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