ZERO SUN MOON's director visits Houston.
On Tuesday, January 27, Rice University's Department of Anthropology
hosted a presentation by YANG QUIAN, director and playwright of the
newly formed ZERO SUN MOON theatre company in Shenzhen, China. Yang
Quian was accompanied by his partner Mary Ann O'Donnell; both are on a
current visit to the United States. Mr Yang Quian presented the script
of his new play, "Hope," and spoke eloquently about the difficult
challenge of creating an independent performance group in China. He also
commented on the political situation and the general censorship and
bureaucratic control over cultural production under the Chinese
government, and shared with his audience some provocative reflections on
his first public art intervention, "Sculpture and History," which he
undertook with his troupe during the official sculpture exhibition
"Eternal Return" at Nanshan Cultural Center in Shenzhen.
Here is a statement from the director:
Zero Sun Moon, the first experimental theater troupe in Shenzhen,
China was established in 1997. We have two goals: (1) To use
performance as a means of re-considering the experience of living in a
Chinese boomtown and (2) to create a space for the expression and
interrogation of emergent forms of public life.
Thus far we have produced two pieces. The first, "1997 Action Theater:
History and Sculpture" was a six week series of performances that used a
sculpture exhibition as inspiration and stage. The second, "Hope" was an
experiment in absurdity, satirizing the Shenzhen rage for multi-level
marketing. In addition we have participated in cultural discussions in
China, Hong Kong and Houston.
We are interested in communication with other individuals and groups
currently exploring urban experience in the rush of millenial
globalization. Please contact us at garbage@rice.edu.
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For images of the performances, visit Houston's CODA wesbite at:
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~orpheus/feature.html
Johannes Birringer
AlienNation Co.