Director's show blossoms among sea of flowers

A scenic spot in Dafeng district, Yancheng in Jiangsu province, is called the "Holland Sea of Flowers". More than 30 million tulips blossom there, and it attracts over 120,000 newly weds every year to pose for photos on their special day. A civil administration bureau is situated among the flowers, which sees 5,000 people register as husband and wife every year.

When Chinese director Wang Chaoge visited it for the first time about two years ago, she was impressed by the beautiful scenery and inspired to create a show.

"I was overwhelmed by the sea of flowers. Young couples come here because they believe it's a place that brings them luck and best wishes for their marriage. It's a place full of love and romance," says Wang.

With 476 days in preparing for her production, the director mapped out a new theatrical space, occupying about 200 hectares. She built six theaters to host 100 love stories in over 50 shows, under the name of Unique Love, which will open to the public on Friday.

On Monday, along with TV host Wang Han and singer Zhou Shen, Wang gave a preview of the new show through a streaming service, which attracted over six million views.

Zhou performed the theme songs for the show, Only Love and Poison, during the live streaming.

"There are different stories generated from love, such as pure first love, having an affair, betrayal, emotional abuse and sexual desire. Audiences walk through different spaces to watch performances, both improvised and prepared. The stories happen in our daily lives and are told through various art forms, such as musical, dance and singing," says Wang, adding that when the audience enters the performance space, they will be integrated into the performance and become a part of the show. The actors ask questions and perhaps each participant's answer will be different, which brings the story to different directions.

Acclaimed as one of the most innovative directors in China, Wang pioneered real-scene performances in the country and brought the Impression series to a commercial success internationally.

In 2003, she co-directed Impression Liu Sanjie with Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou and stage director and designer Fan Yue, and it remains one of China's most popular and profitable tourist shows.

In 2008, Wang co-directed the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Summer Olympic Games with Zhang and Fan.

In 2013, separately, Wang produced Encore Pingyao in the ancient city of Pingyao, Shanxi province. It was the first time that she invited the audience to walk around a space to enjoy performances and interact with actors, rather than being seated some distance from the stage. After that, she produced the Encore series at popular destinations such as Dunhuang in Gansu province and Mount Wutai in Shanxi. Last year, she created another interactive show, titled Unique Mount E'mei, about Mount E'mei, in Sichuan province, by using the area to showcase the culture and tradition of the people living there.

Unique Mount E'mei is the first installment of the Unique series of the director and the latest Unique Love is the second production under the series.

"I want to tell stories of ordinary people," says Wang. "I won't define the show with 'immersive' or any other phrases. It's a magic city that I build for people to meet love and reflect.

"Now many people get married not for love. They find their perfect match based on conditions, such as job and income. I want them to rethink about love and romance while experiencing the show," she adds.

One of the stories Wang portrays in the new show is a construction worker, who works in a big city. When his wife came to visit him from their home in a remote village, the couple shares space with dozens of other construction workers, who all live together in a temporary building nearby the construction site.

"They have no private space but they still want to stay together. It's a commonly seen issue in our contemporary society among the underprivileged people. They are deprived of social or economic conditions but they still have the right to love," says Wang.

Another story tells a married man's love affair with a young woman. They are about to break up but want to meet up with each other for the very last time.

"One of the scenes that touched me is when dozens of actors running to the audience, yelling 'I love you' to the people they loved before," says Liu Tong, a member of the audience, who saw the preview of Wang's new show on Monday. "I was touched not because it reminded me of my ex-lover but because it reminded me of my youth when I fell in love recklessly."