CFan engages audience in production of “The Pillow Man”

On Nov. 20 and Nov. 21, the CFan Chinese Theatre Group performed “The Pillowman” at the Northwest Campus Auditorium. Originally written by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, “The Pillowman” tells the twisted tale of a fictional writer interrogated for the gruesome details of his stories and their striking similarities to a number of local child murders. Performed in Mandarin Chinese and complemented with English subtitles, CFan’s production presents a compelling contrast between childhood innocence and human brutality.

Zhou: On November 20th and November 21st, the CFan Chinese Theatre Group performed “The Pillowman” at the Northwest Campus Auditorium. It was originally written by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, and it tells the twisted tale of a fictional writer interrogated for the gruesome details of his stories and their striking similarities to a number of local child murders. Performed in Mandarin Chinese and complemented with English subtitles, CFan’s production presents a compelling contrast between childhood innocence and human psychopathy.

LI: The reason we want to put this show is that (a) it is quite different from other shows that are popular right now and (b) different from other shows that we put on before. It is a show that is quite intimate, that is different, dark in its theme and it is a quite thought-provoking story and we want to bring our audience a different experience.

Zhou: That’s Mike Li, co-director of the production and fourth year psychology and economics double major.

LI: There are couple of little stories in the play that are very brief but they are very dark and depict the more darker side of humanity and especially the darker side of childhood. The combination of childhood and death, innocence and cruelty is unique in a way.

Zhou: In “The Pillowman”, the interconnections between acting and storytelling was strongly emphasized through arena theatre. Acting is a way of storytelling, while storytelling makes up the core of acting. “The Pillowman”‘s plot is a convoluted narrative that brings the ideas of naivety and atrocity into clash. CFan Chinese Theatre Group President Yijin Lin, fourth year computational math major and theatre minor, and third year psychology major and cognitive science minor, Veronica Zhu, an actress, experiment with the concept of arena theatre in this particular production.

LIN: We are putting a new way of doing theatre, of using a space we have never used before. We call this arena theatre. There will be actors hanging around you. It would be a brand new experience. As the acting director and artistic director of the production, my main job is to train the ensemble, which is a very unique part of the production. They are not given specific characters and in this specific production, they have the job of telling the little dark fairytales with their physicalities, without words or lines but with their bodies.

Zhou: Arena theatre is a theatre arrangement which the stage is always in center and the audience are arranged on all sides in a circular manner. This particular configuration is used when there is high-energy productions and audience participation is required. Using the concept of arena theatre, the CFan Chinese Theatre Group was able to bring the actors and actresses into the same space as the audience.

ZHU: Everything is about your personal experience. So we are putting you in such a space and in an intimate relationship with the actors and actresses. So we cannot know what is happening in your mind but we provide you with such a unique experience, and you can probably experience something that can be only known to yourself, I think that is the most valuable experience you can get from our play.

Although the Pillowman is a disturbing and dark production, it is also a dark comedy. I think the ensemble’s job is to make the show dark and disturbing. And I think the task of the actors and actresses is to make this show a comedy.

Zhou: In the case with “The Pillowman”, the use of arena theatre allows actors and actresses to see their performance as not just an isolated activity happening on stage, but a catalyst that stirs up the reactions, emotions and thoughts of the audience instantaneously.

LIN: In many people’s presumptions, they see acting as just acting or imitating someone else. But the spirit of acting is really digging the part of that really assembles that character, a part that you won’t normally see. It is about revealing yourself. The difference is between reading the lines and acting it out, is that You have to find the need to speak those lines instead of reading out loud, or it is just not enough. In order to do that you have to find that character within yourself.

Zhou: In the play, the main character Karturian pointed out how the true duty of a storyteller is to tell a story. In this production, the true duty of the CFan Chinese Theatre Group is to tell the audience a story that is never told or heard before.

ZHU: I think we are doing the same thing as the playwright. He is not presenting direction answers to the audience, but he gave the audience their right to think of the questions themselves. The reasons we aren’t trying to give them a particular answer, because we want to think about this play by themselves. We are also giving the audience the right to think. There is one particular line in our advertisements: The show actually begins when the curtain falls. That is your own show in your own mind. I think that is one of the reasons that there are no underlying messages.

Zhou: After the evening showcase on Friday, the audience had mixed reactions regarding this innovative CFan production.

AUDIENCE 1: I really like it, it is very different. Kind of very surprising parts. It is kind of surprising and I really like the part the ending part and the story of the humans is going through the whole show. It is very nice.

AUDIENCE 2: I like the plot and the story summary seems attractive. Sometimes I couldn’t hear the lines very clearly, and I basically read the subtitles all the time.

AUDIENCE 3: Before I saw the show I think I might have to go to see a mental health professional but after the show I am normal like everyone else.

Zhou: From little green pigs to apples with hidden razors, “The Pillowman” is a true horror-fest with a comedic tone. Through the application of arena theatre, the audience and the stage space essentially become one entity. For Daily Bruin Radio, this is Connie Zhou.