“Snow in Midsummer” and “The Orphan of Chao” are two short but quite stunning offerings at the Shaw in Niagara on the Lake this summer.

And we have Season Tickets! So of course we went to see both – and good news – saw them both in 2 days – not quite back to back, but close enough to both compare and contrast them.

All 6 of the Actors in The Orphan of Chao also appear in Snow in Midsummer (12 Cast in total) – not a surprise perhaps for a repertoire theatre company like Shaw – and even less of a surprise given that both plays are taken from Chinese Stories that date back hundreds (thousands?) of years. So while not all of the surprisingly excellent cast is clearly Asian – there is a decidedly Asian bent! Logical I suppose – and it must have made casting easier to have two plays for these actors to perform!

But cast excellence aside – it’s the stories and the dramatic nature of the setting and staging that made these plays so stunning. Thank you Directors!

Both stories are tales of revenge and redemption. Both Plays feature minimal staging to maximum effect, and both Plays have women cast members playing the strongest roles.

“The Orphan of Chao” tells the story of the rise, fall and rise again of a family in China during the Jin Dynasty – c.145 – 86 BCE. Given that history has a way of repeating itself – the play relates the not so unique story of a corrupt High Official at court who decides his safest strategy is just to get rid of his major opponent – and since this is China – that means killing off every person related in to him. 300 people get murdered quickly – leaving only one infant – saved from death by the suicide of his mother, a guard who knows too much, and the extreme sacrifice of a doctor of his only child. It’s not easy to hide an infant, let alone raise the infant, under the watchful eyes of a malevolent man with a great deal of power.

The staging was truly remarkable. There is a high movable fence that serves as the entrance to a palace, the entrance to a hovel, the barrier against attack, and the background. The players use paper hats, paper costumes, and some effective props including a medicine chest that the Doctor uses to hide the infant to convey the impression of soldiers, court officials, scared parents, Evil Dictators, and young challengers.

I was never lost in the story – every set change was done with clear explanations as to where we were now, and what was happening. There wasn’t actually much text – most of the story gets told by people dramatically interpreting what is happening. My clear favorite – the mother of the Orphan giving birth! A second favorite – the Doctor trying to escape with the infant – and doing a very bad job of it.

I was left with an emotional high – perhaps there is hope for the future, that the ‘good’ guys can actually end up ahead.

“Snow in MidSummer” was a modern re-writing of another old Chinese Story. In the program notes it explains that you can’t risk re-telling these stories in today’s China – so the author is based in the US – along with all her family. Unlike “The Orphan of Chao”, the author takes great liberties with the story – revising the love interest, making it more of a murder mystery than the simple retelling of a convoluted, but clear good vs bad story.

And the changes make the story much more ‘acceptable’ to our modern ideas. It isn’t clear who is right and who is wrong, who is good and who is bad in “Snow in MidSummer” – although the sprit crying out for redemption/revenge has a solid plan.

Again – the minimum set – a partially ruined brick wall becomes a bar, a court room, a torture chamber, and an execution ground. Waving flags and minimal props generate mood, and move the story along. The steps leading up thru the audience are the stairways to heaven, at least the Buddhist version of it, and rapid changes of small bits of clothing (including gas masks and full animal head puppetry) allow the audience to quickly understand who is who.

I particularly was intrigued by the wordless funeral held for one of the main characters – showing how things thrown into the fire become a part of the spirt world – an orange, some money, a flower – all go from the hands of the funeral party thru the burning fire into the hands of the spirts. Stunningly beautiful and completely wordless.

Without spoiling the play for those who have yet to see it – again we have a tale where the name of the game is Redemption/Revenge, Forgiveness, Moving Forward, and having hope for the future – of a person, of a town, of a tree.

I loved both. I would gleefully see both again.

Signing off to go see My Fair Lady for the 2nd time… Shaw does it all!

The Soup Lady