Nov. 23 and Nov. 24 at 7 p.m., Duke Chinese Theater will present its fall showcase “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” at the Ruby’s von der Heyden Studio Theater.
Duke Chinese Theater (DCT) was founded in 2017. The only Chinese student-led drama organization at Duke, DCT presents a play at the end of every semester. Past performances of DCT include “Mr. Donkey” (驴得水), “White Deer Plain” (白鹿原), “To Live” (活着) and “The Insanity” (你好，疯子).
DCT will use Meng Jinghui’s Chinese-language version of “Accidental Death of an Anarchist”, an Italian-language play by Italian playwright Dario Fo. Based on the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing, “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” explores the death of Giuseppe Pinelli, an anarchist railway worker who fell out of the police’s interrogation window. The official audition guide ended with the slogan: “Looking forward to fa feng (going crazy) with you!”
The production team of DCT this semester is led by Elena Zhang (Trinity ‘28), director of the fall showcase, and assistant director Elaine Liu (Trinity ‘27). The Chronicle interviewed Zhang and Liu on DCT’s unique choice of play this semester and delved into key themes of “Accidental Death of an Anarchist” including absurdity, madness, justice and power.
The interview is edited for length and clarity.
The Chronicle: As we know, DCT has adapted many theater works that are popular among contemporary Chinese society, such as “Mumble Jumble (乱民全讲)” and “The Birth of Actors (演员的诞生)”. Two of my favorites so far are “Mr. Donkey (驴得水)” and “White Deer Plain (白鹿原).” I think it is noteworthy that these two performances, to some extent, challenge an established political discourse among the Chinese diasporic communities.
I found it interesting that for this year DCT moves forward to depict an Europe-based (a)political tale “Accidental Death of an Anarchist.” Where does this cultural turn come from? How will DCT integrate its own culture into this new show?
Elena Zhang: “The Accidental Death of an Anarchist” produced by DCT this fall is a remake based on the version directed by Jinghui Meng, a prestigious Chinese avant-garde theater director. Compared to the original Italian version, Jinghui Meng's adaptation incorporates various Chinese dialects and slang with a deal of local color, and we have further built on Meng's foundation by catching on with current events and popular memes in Chinese Internet, such as health insurance issues and Chinese pop songs popular on TikTok. This allows the play's discussion of justice and power to fit more with the Chinese context.
TC: What themes do you explore in the play? What does it mean to be and perform an anarchist piece in today’s society?
EZ: Dario Fo originally created the play based on the bombing in the Milan Train Station, Italy. At that time, the Italian police department was riddled with corruption and violence. The government claimed that the bombing was committed by an anarchist and intended to suppress the voices of anger amongst the population. In Dario Fo's writing, the concept of the anarchist was a dissatisfaction and rebellion against the Italian bureaucracy, and the satire of bureaucracy and the exploration of the phenomenon of the enslavement of the public in his writing is not even outdated today.
TC: Let’s talk about “madness (疯狂)” and “fa feng (发疯).” That was mentioned in DCT’s slogan on its WeChat Official Accounts Platform.
EZ: Jinghui Meng, as a representative of Chinese experimental theater, likes to use lots of abstract elements in his production, such as the exaggerated screaming, the strange body language and so on. This is what we call “fa feng.” “Fa feng” breaks the seriousness of traditional theater and gives the performers and production team more space for creativity. “Fa feng” allows us to turn all the impossibilities into possibilities. I think this is the unique emotional expression of Gen Z. We don't want to be serious, we don't want to be bound by rules, we want to be crazy and free.
Elaine Liu: Additionally, the irony of the madman’s “madness” lies in his role as the only truly conscious and perceptive character amidst a sea of corruption and incompetence. While the police and bureaucrats label him as deranged, it is, in fact, his antics and mockery that expose the disturbing truths they try to hide. We want the audience to understand and relate to the fact that his “madness” becomes a tool for truth, stripping away the officials’ façades and highlighting the absurdity of a system blind to its own injustices.
This is the first time DCT performs a play not set in a Chinese society. The temporal and spatial differences between Chinese and Italian societies present both a major challenge and an experimental highlight for the play’s performance. At 7 p.m. Nov. 23 and Nov. 24, DCT will take its audience to a new dramatic world with complicated understandings of human emotions and behaviors.
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