A legendary journey from Hangzhou's West Lake to New York
Reimagining a centuries-old Chinese folk tale through experimental theater, a Yale student brings The Legend of the White Snake to contemporary, multicultural audiences in the US through the medium of Mandarin.
Captivated by the legend's lasting allure, He Chuning, also known as Ophelia He, a 21-year-old Chinese student at Yale University in the United States, teamed up with New York-based director and theater-maker Tara P. Nyingjè to reinvent the story as an experimental theater production titled Qingbai: Innocence.
On Sunday, the show wrapped up its US East Coast tour at the HERE Arts Center, a renowned venue for experimental theater in New York City, after premiering at Yale in New Haven to a sold-out audience and appearing at Brown University in Providence.
With He starring as Bai Suzhen, the production brought together actors from institutions including Yale, Brown and the Rhode Island School of Design, many of whom specialize in literature, filmmaking and drama.
"I wrote the play with Nyingjè," He told the China Daily website recently.
"We have been thinking about how to introduce Chinese stories to a wider overseas audience on our own terms, to show the allure and depth of traditional Chinese culture. Then, Qingbai was born."
