Theater: A Century of Chinese History on Stage

Are Taiwanese people Chinese? The answer to this question can be found in a Mandarin play with English captions, Soaring over a Century, at the San Jose Repertory Theatre Aug. 6 and 7.

The play, highlighting the 100th anniversary of the Republic of China, is based on the experiences of the past century incorporated into a family saga. Four generations go through war and peace, separation and reunion.

Soaring over a Century is written by Palo Alto resident, Joyce Hsu, and directed by Los Altos resident, Hongtong Lin.

Lin, who used to teach at Beijing Film Academy and has worked on more than 30 plays since his retirement, said the play presents a longer span of history than all the other plays he has directed.

"The biggest challenge about the long historical span is to change backgrounds for many different scenes," said Lin. "Fortunately we have advanced LED technology. We use LED slide shows for backgrounds, and they look very real."

Lin also said he finds directing the play a meaningful task, as it depicts many Chinese people's common experiences and shared feelings.

Hsu, a Palo Alto resident who has written plays for Huayi since 1996, said she wrote Soaring over a Century in response to several friends' request for a play that presents the history of the Republic of China for its 100th anniversary this year.

Dramatic highlights of the play start with 1949, the year the Nationalist government of the Republic of China lost the entire Mainland China to the Chinese Communists but re-established itself in Taiwan. In the play, a pilot follows the Nationalist government to Taiwan, taking his eldest son, Da-Bao but leaving his wife and youngest son, Er-Bao, in China.

Six decades later, when Da-Bao and Er-Bao reunite, they are both retired pilots like their father, but one for the Nationalist government in Taiwan and the other for the Communist government in China. They chat about an air battle between China and Taiwan in 1960, and then suddenly realize they might have fought against each other in the air.

To the two brothers' surprise, it could have been Er-Bao who shot Da-Bao's left arm and left permanent damage.

Hsu said the conversation between the two brothers was what came to her mind first when she gathered ideas for the play.

"A civil war is brother against brother," said Hsu, who was born in China but moved to Taiwan as a child with her family in 1949. 

Hsu said her own childhood experience with the Chinese Civil War helped her create the drama between Da-Bao and Er-Bao. She added that the war was the hardest on her parents' generation.

"I wrote the play as a tribute to my parents' generation," Hsu said.

According to Hsu, all the members of the Huayi Performing Group are volunteers, and none takes any financial compensation. Revenue from ticket sales of every play just goes to cover production expenses, and usually that doesn't suffice.

The Chinese community nonprofit theater group is renting the San Jose Repertory Theater space for the first weekend of August. The San Jose Rep takes the summer off.

"We've put eight of my plays on stage. Only one broke even," said Hsu. "Fortunately, my husband has been very supportive to pay for the difference every time."

Hsu said she hopes to see the play break Huayi's past box office records.

Given the large Chinese population in Silicon Valley, it may be of interest to learn a little about Chinese history, especially about the relationship between China and Taiwan, which often seems confusing to many non-Chinese.

"I'm sure many people from China or Taiwan will relate to the characters of the play," she said. "I also hope American-born Chinese or people of other races can learn some Chinese history from it."  

Tickets for "Soaring over a Century" are $35 each, or $30 each for groups of 10. To purchase tickets, email joycehsu88@yahoo.com or petery@huayi.org