Pilgrimage of the Heart
Set design and illustration
Performance date May-June 2008
Venue Hampstead
Set in Shanghai, an outwardly normal happy family is trapped in a dark web of hidden lust and desire which threatens to destroy each and every one of them.
Originally set in the glamorous cosmopolitan Shanghai of the thirties, this adaptation resets the action in the resurrected Shanghai of today, in which traditional values are again colliding with western values as they were in the 30’s. The compassionate exploration of the taboo and human dilemma at the heart of the play is explored through a theatrically eclectic mix of symbolism, Greek tragic devices and multi-media. The play also aims to introduce the beauty of Chinese literature through adapting Ailing Zhang’s exquisite prose.
“Always father and daughter… tied together by a blood-red string... unravel it, wrap it round itself, pull it, play with it, you can never sever it… burn it and you burn yourself.”
Director. Shan Ng
Playwright. Simon C.K. Wu
