Painted SkinOct. 17th - Oct. 18th, 2015 Malanhua Theater
Painted Skinis one of the best stories from Strange Stories From a Chinese Studio. It satirizes the way in which people are adept at “painting skins” for themselves, dressing themselves up with an appealing exterior while hiding a debased soul within. This performance seeks a less-travelled path at the same time while taking the story back to its essence. The wife is cast as the main character as well as the malicious ghost, both played by the same male actor. The malicious ghost is borne out of the turns of the wife’s mind: her lack of faith gives rise to the ghost that torments her husband, and her repentance is also capable of bringing her husband back from the dead. This symbolic deconstruction of the story makes the performance a novel visual experience and creates endless possibilities for imagination. Is the good wife a malicious ghost, or vice versa? This structure, akin to an optical illusion that switches back and forth, conveys the essence of the work and the Eastern concept of beauty.
