DIS-ORIENTATIONS

"On no account to be missed"  (The Stage)

Shanghai 2006. The fastest growing city in Asia, beating heart of China`s economic dragon and theatre of cultural extremes.  An Englishman flies in, searching for his missing daughter. A female private detective trawls the bars and night-clubs. And on the Yue-ju stage, two women dressed as men declare their passion in the ancient story of The Butterfly Lovers.

In such a place and time is anything as it seems?

"The cast is splendid...  brilliantly executed" (Time Out)

A multicultural, multimedia collision of East and West. Two years in the making, DIS-ORIENTATIONS was the result of a ground-breaking collaboration with the all-female Yue Opera of Shanghai and, for the first time in the UK, featured Yue opera star Zhang Ruihong.

"Of all the multicultural art events I have seen over the last few years, this theatre production is probably the one that has had the most profound effect on me.  It is the kind of theatre that bombards you with a hundred and one ideas and possibilities, leaving you so shell-shocked that its full effect won't sink in until a couple of days later.  The relationship between the traditional Chinese yue opera and the stunning naturalistic performances of all the cast was sublime....  It is the best show I've seen all year.... Is this the future of theatre?" (Whats On Stage)

Supported by Arts Council England, Columbia Foundation and UNESCO. Collaboration facilitated by the British Council`s Collaboration through Culture programme. Developed with Central School of Speech and Drama and Theatre Futures.

SHANGHAI YUE OPERA COMPANY - An introduction to the form, the company and its work.

FACES OF CHINESE WOMEN - by Xinran

The texts of THE ORIENTATIONS TRILOGY are available from the Bookshop.