I rented a simultaneous translation headset for this 8 hour play in Chinese, out of worry that I wouldn't be able to keep up with the language. And I thought I might become bored. "A Dream Like A Dream (如梦之梦)" turned out to be the best performance my wife and I have ever seen - and we didn't ever need the headset.
The play is classified as "Chinese" but that's like calling Oxford-born, Japan-residing writer Pico Iyer "Indian". Key scenes take place in a tiny apartment in Paris, a Chateau in Normandy, a train on its way to the UK and a hospital ward in Taipei. In between, characters fly through time and space.
At these moments I'm particularly grateful to my secondary school education in Chinese and specifically in Chinese music. During our insecure high school days, being part of the Chinese Orchestra was terribly uncool - not only was the music outdated, China was, after all,the place our families left, for a better life in Singapore. My education gave me the courage to appreciate things without caring for whether they are considered cool.
But sometimes I wish I went deeper. I'm catching Singapore Chinese Orchestra's performance "Dream of the Red Mansion Suite" in two weeks, and realise that although I know the songs by heart, I barely know the novel well. Almost like not knowing the details of Romeo and Juliet.
I'm also incredibly curious where China is headed. Other than reading external voices of the Economist, New Yorker and Guardian, I try to catch a glimpse based on what's popular in China. Reading the trashy bestseller "Tiny Times" and watching "I am a Singer." But maybe it is time for a trip to China, after 16 years. When I was last in Beijing, it was still filled with bicycles.