But if creators Chen, Aibel, and Berger want to create a new myth-at least one staged in front of a New York theatre audience that is trained in psychological realism-there needs to be more backstory, more that is filled in. Free of what? Who are Dragon and Phoenix? What is this spring that this house is protecting? And why would a father-not one in a distant time and a distant land, but one who pushes baby carriages in contemporary New York City-decide that this spring is so valuable that he should kill one of his kids to get it? Classic myths allow us to circumvent such questions because we have a rich, centuries-old foundation to draw from, so we can fill in the holes ourselves. See, without any underlying mythology, a line like “Phoenix and Dragon will unite and we will all be free” just becomes gibberish. All the seeds for a classic tale of family honor and betrayal are here unfortunately, the story is told without the deeper development that’s required when you are attempting to create a new legend from scratch. So the twins each grow up with a different parent, each thinking the other is dead, and that the other parent has betrayed them. Lone Peak’s daughter Little Lotus (Jasmine Chiu, and later Peiju Chien-Pott) falls in with Doug Pince (David Torok), they have twins, and then for some reason Doug Pince rebels and tries to steal control of the spring. This group, led by kung fu master Lone Peak (David Patrick Kelly), protects a spring of the sort that extends life or perhaps provides eternal life (it clearly does something good with life). ![]() In brief, there is a “House of Dragon” in Flushing, Queens (a location that seems random until you realize Flushing is home to the second largest Chinatown in New York City). Most of the critique concerns the main narrative, one that is told with all the sign-posting and broad strokes of a classic myth. And I suspect it’s this-what might perhaps be loosely described as a problem with translation-that is at least partly responsible for the drubbing it has received by the New York critical establishment. ![]() audiences, and clearly isn’t working out of American theatrical traditions. But as I sat trying to puzzle through this somewhat confusing work, the thing I kept coming back to was this: although both set and performed in New York City, Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise doesn’t seem to be designed for U.S. It’s a show created by the renowned Chen Shi-Zheng, in collaboration with writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger (of the Kung Fu Panda), with music (not enough) by Sia. A so-called “kung-fu musical,” it’s a piece that is part family drama, part mythic creation, part experimental theatre, part martial arts demonstration, and part circus spectacle. ![]() Co-conceived and Directed by Chen Shi-Zheng Ĭo-conceived and Written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn BergerĪ scene from Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise. Photo by Stephanie Berger.īOTTOM LINE: While clearly a lot of money was spent on this piece commissioned by The Shed, Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise underscores how no budget will make up for the lack of a good story.ĭragon Spring Phoenix Rise tries to do many things.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |