Chongqing- On April 17, the musical Jiangzhou Anecdote-1937, created by Chongqing's first independent youth troupe, Lumen Theatre, was staged in Chongqing. It brought the audience back to 1937 in Chongqing.
In 2009, Steve Zhang, the artistic director of Chongqing Summertime Theatre, created the English play Chongqing-1937 based on the oral account of Chongqing's social and historical features during the 1930s by Xiao Nengzhu, a well-known cultural and historical expert in Chongqing. In the following year, Chongqing-1937, the performance of the first "Chinese Theatre Night" of the Texas Shakespeare Festival was well received by many audiences.
Stage photo of Jiangzhou Anecdote-1937. (iChongqing/ Wang Xiaoyan)
At the curtain call, producer Angelina Gao and Steve Zhang had a dream - to perform a Chinese version of the musical for the audience in Chongqing, where the story took place. For the next 11 years, they traveled back and forth between Chongqing and Texas and worked hard towards this goal. Steve was in charge of directing and acting, and Angelina was in charge of screenwriting and production. The two partners exchanged excellent stories throughout the play.
Stage photo of Jiangzhou Anecdote-1937. (iChongqing/ Wang Xiaoyan)
The Jiangzhou Anecdote-1937 staged in Chongqing this time is the Chinese version of Chongqing-1937.
Based on the society of Chongqing in 1937, the play tells about a murder mystery that happened in a nightclub. Through the detection and advancement of the investigation process, Chongqing's historical and cultural features during the war are reproduced.
Stage photo of Jiangzhou Anecdote-1937. (iChongqing/ Wang Xiaoyan)
This new version has added a lot of Chongqing elements based on maintaining the characteristics of the original version.
"The music in the play is not only the character's inner monologue but also a bystander." According to Angelina Gao, the play's producer, the 2010 English version of Chongqing-1937 has only six songs, while the upgraded Jiangzhou Anecdote-1937 has 14 songs, all of which are original works by the Lumen Theatre.
Stage photo of Jiangzhou Anecdote-1937. (iChongqing/ Wang Xiaoyan)
In addition to the school teachers, there are two college students in the play's cast. "It is an adventurous choice to tell local stories in Chongqing with a local team and show them to local audiences in Chongqing. It also represents the love and expectation of young people in this city for the stage," said Angelina, a young theatrical practitioner. She has always wanted to use the stage to show the local story to Chongqing audiences. She hopes to restore Chongqing's rich history and culture through the drama Jiangzhou Anecdote-1937.