Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts - Beijing Comedy Theatre
Dates: January 03-14, 2018
About
Rhinoceros in Love is an allegory of human sprit, rather than a real love story. It tells a story about a man who is in love with a woman does everything he can for her. The protagonist MA Lu, a monomaniac in others' eyes, over-exaggerates the differences between two women, as his friends point out. He might be considered as a rhinoceros among people, an eccentric man, in today's world where everyone knows how to make a wise choice. Being wise means refraining from doing those impossible, illogical and unthankful things. In this modern society, there are myriads of possibilities, approaches, and choices. Everyone can find his/her best place, and wisely strike a balance between how they feel and what they need so as to rule out the possibility of being hurt and mocked. But that is not how MA Lu thinks, and not what I like as well. The truth is that without monomania, there would be no breakthroughs, no progress and no new beginnings that you may have never expected, a rule that applies to everything, not just love.
To love is for your own good. Though no one actually deserves the love you give at the cost of losing everything, love can help you see through the various false illusions in life, and reach out to the world as well as the part of your inner world that you might have never noticed. It vitalizes all your senses and kills all your languor. It takes off your worldly outfit so as to expose the truest and tenderest part of your heart to others, a process which no doubt entails pain. But what do we live for if we can not feel people and the world in the most direct way?
Synopsis
Mingming, a sexy girl full of secrets, thoroughly changed the life of a young man named MA Lu, at the very moment that her presence catches MA's eyes as well as his love. She has a heart of stone and is indifferent to MA's flowers, promises, physical intimacy or whatever. MA Lu has done all he can, but was overwhelmed by deeper desperation by an unexpected big prize which he had hoped to help him win Mingming's heart. To help him, the salesman Toothbrush finds two young girls, Honghong and Lili, to pretend MA's followers, in an attempt to make Mingming jealous. Unfortunately, MA Lu's madness makes his love instructor's theory a complete failure. At a night, MA Lu, as creasy and stubborn as a rhinoceros, kidnaps Mingming in the name of love...
MENG Jinghui Director
MENG Jinghui founded Beijing Youth Theatre Festival in 2008 and has served as artistic director since then. He is the director of National Theatre of China. As the famous Chinese stage director, MENG Jinghui puts his creativity and diversified artistic style into full play.
He has directed many works, including Think of Worldly Pleasure, Accidental Death of an Anarchist, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Rhinoceros in Love, Head without Tail, Amber, In Illusion, Romantic Meeting, The Life Attitude of Two Dogs, Labyrinth and Magic Mountain. MENG also cultivates a large number of drama fans to infuse the energy into new diversification of Chinese drama stage. His film Chicken Poets is awarded with the FIPRESCI Critics Award of Hong Kong International Film Festival and Special Youth Jury Award of Locarno International Film Festival.
