But, this... this is something else.
Obviously, where Romeo and Juliet is in English, The Butterfly Lovers is in Chinese. Moreover, where R&J is in Shakespearean English, The Butterfly Lovers is in traditional Chinese.
Struggling to see where the problem is? Well, in less than three weeks - December 23rd, to be precise - the problem will be very, very, extremely apparent when yours truly steps onto the stage of the University Auditorium as Chinese Romeo, and Anna steps out as Chinese Juliet.
Yep. The School play is the tale of Liang Shan Bo and Zhu Ying Tai and I'm going to be Liang Shan Bo and Anna is Zhu Ying Tai. And we're going to perform this classical opera in traditional Chinese.
No, no I have not yet mastered modern Chinese. Yes, yes I am a bit apprehensive.
Actually I was a bit apprehensive, and then was told that there'll be an audience of between two and three thousand. Two to three thousand. Thousand. I am past 'a bit apprehensive'.
I've got the script, written in characters that I can't read, with the pinyin transliterations that I can't pronounce and I've already told you everything I know about the plot.
If I were a student here, with more than a passing interest in amateur dramatics, I might feel that the director having decided that none of the 40'000 students at the university were fit for the role was a little strange, if not unfair. Not being that student, but rather a foreigner who's been roped into a preposterously complex project, I've not got the time to think about this being a bit strange.
With the amount of reading and learning the script is going to consume, I doubt I've got the time to plan or teach any classes between now and the twenty-third of December. When the time comes, I really do hope that 'Break a Leg' cuts it.
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