Students of Shanghai Theatre Academy presented the show “Deling and Cixi” at the International students festival of final year shows “Your chance/GITIS fest” that closed yesterday.
Our guests from China received a warm welcome at the GITIS Theatre.
At the end of the 19th century, Princess Deling, a Western-educated princess of the Qing Dynasty, was “like a refreshing breeze blowing into the restricted Forbidden City.” Her youthful vigor created quite a stir among the domineering Cixi, the desperate Emperor Guangxu, the quarrelsome female members of the royal family, and the pedantic officials in the imperial court. Values of modern civilization clashed violently with the stereotypical rules of the Qing Dynasty. Deling, a modest and young woman with modern ideas, encountered Cixi, an old and traditional woman of high status, at such a moment in history, and they clashed and appreciated each other, sparking a series of stories.
The weighty subject matter of the narrative, which entails the challenges faced by the nation, the rivalries and power struggles within the feudal structure, the call for progress and its suppression, the self-reflection and vulnerability of individuals in difficult circumstances, the de-labeled sincerity and mutual respect between people, is thought-provoking, and allows the story to transcend generations and still be relevant in present times.
