Impression—Liu Sanjie

This is a totally different performance from the conventional form. The theater is the nature itself. The sceneries of the four seasons are changing, the weather is changing, so does the performance is changing to match up with the changeable nature. In this stage, only half of the performance is created by man, and the other half belongs to the mysterious nature.

If it were raining during the performance, you can put on the raincoat that we prepare for you; if you came here in the hot summer, you have to take the anti-mosquito spray with you; if there were flood, half of the auditorium probably could be under the water; and if there were thunderstorm, the performance could be ceased. This is our performance—a performance interacting with the nature.

A scene of the play Impression—Liu Sanjie [Photo provided to China Daily]

Liu Sanjie is the singing goddess in the legend of ethnic group of Zhuang. In 1961, there was a film made with the same title as her name" Liu Sanjie ", it has been a classic and popular music film in China from then on. In the play Impression—Liu Sanjie, you won't see the plots, the characters and the usual scenes, but rather a series of impressions, and those impressions are got from the landscapes and the ordinary life of the place, Because Liu Sanjie was born and bred from this magic land, her legend radiates the wonderful atmosphere of this place and naivety of the local people.

There are more than 600 people involved in this play. Most of them are fishermen from the five villages along the river. They work in the river in the daytime, and participate in the performance in the evening with their bamboo rafts. Some of the performers are the little singers from the villages of the ethnic group of Dong and the young girls of other ethnic groups. They sing with the nature and untrained voices and dance with spontaneous style. In the gorgeous landscape, they are extraordinarily beautiful and true.

The play was officially presented to the audiences on March 20, 2004. After watching the play, an officer of the world tourism organization said, “This is a unique play, you can't see it nowhere the world but here. And it's worth to buy a round-trip air ticket from anywhere in the world only to see the play."

A scene of the play Impression—Liu Sanjie [Photo provided to China Daily]