A legendary journey from Hangzhou's West Lake to New York
Reimagining a centuries-old Chinese folk tale through experimental theater, a Yale student brings The Legend of the White Snake to contemporary, multicultural audiences in the US through the medium of Mandarin.
"Of course, we were aware of the potential language barrier, but we ultimately chose Mandarin because we wanted to preserve the story's original temperament as much as possible," He explains.
"The tonal qualities, rhythm and pauses of Mandarin align especially well with a narrative like The Legend of the White Snake, which carries a strong sense of myth, poetry and musicality.
"For the actors, the language helps us enter the characters more intuitively; for the audience, it creates an atmospheric experience distinct from English."
The playwright and actor says many audience members in the US were able to follow the plot and connect with the characters through the cast's physical expressions alone.
Moving beyond traditional dialogue-driven theater, the creators adopted physical theater techniques, using body movement, breathing rhythms and spatial dynamics to convey emotion and conflict.
