Revitalising the Liang-Zhu legend: Edward Lam Dance Theatre’s postdramatic Art School Musical (2014)1

Abstract

Hong Kong Theatre director Edward Lam has established close association with an ensemble of Taiwanese actors, collaborating on almost every production since Madame Bovary is Me (Baofali furen men, 2006) and touring to Taiwan, Hong Kong and Mainland China. This article examines Lam’s unique working pattern through the analysis of Art School Musical (Successors to Liang and Zhu, Liang Zhu de jichengzhe men, 2014), the 54th production by the Edward Lam Dance Theatre (ELDT). Inspired by the famous Chinese legend The Butterfly Lovers (Liang Shanbo yu Zhu Yingtai), Lam created a postdramatic musical as a Bildungsroman in a format of classroom drama. The love story underwent a poetic transformation through the lyrics and music. The ELDT version of the Liang-Zhu legend carries Lam’s criticism of the stereotypes assigned to young people in patriarchal societies and allows him to elevate the love story into an allegory of one’s quest for the meaning of life.