The LongBow Papers

Liberal-oriented columns, commentary and archived articles on national and international news, politics, and the communication arts--with emphasis on China--by Joseph Bosco, author, journalist, director and actor; Professor of Drama and Communications at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Arthur Miller is a Winner in Beijing, (Redux)

1:36 PM

Act 1, "Bless the Lord!" Reverend Hale, Thomas Putnam, Reverend Parris and Tituba
Regular readers know my great fondness for the life and works of Arthur Miller; so it is with much joy that I report some very subjective news thusly: From a somewhat shaky opening (June 15) due in the main to--aargh! hrmmph!--technical problems, to an almost perfect closing night (June 19), "The Crucible" was a winner on the main stage at Beijing Foreign Studies University! Many long hours and hard work by 20 student-actors, and almost that many student-technicians and stagehands, paid off in a most satisfying fashion.

The first full-length English Language drama performed at Beiwai since the beginning of the Cultural Revolution was an unqualified "hit," according to enthusiastic audience members. Since a director should not review his own work, I will only say how proud I am of a large cast of talented young people who collectively saved my bacon! So, just another director not trusting his eyes and ears because it's easier to 'see' what's wrong than what's right.

Snapshots from members of the audience attending different performances and final rehearsals are coming in; many are posted now. More will follow. I hope. The closing performance was also video-taped for DVD distribution locally. I look forward to that; I still haven't 'seen' the show as a show in total--Acts 1 through 4, with lights, costumes, music and sound effects as a continuous entity except from my crosscut, linear-view duty post in the far down-right wing.

Cast (in order of appearance)

Reverend Parris-----Xiao Liang (Leon)
Betty Parris-----Li Jin (Li Jing)
Tituba-----He Yujia (Cinderella)
Abigail Williams-----Pu Zhuangyi (Amanda)
Susanna Walcott-----Zhao Xiaochen (Dusty)
Mrs. Ann Putnam-----Hou Yun (Athena)
Thomas Putnam-----Ding Qiang (Milton)
Mercy Lewis-----Wu Meng (Cheryl)
Mary Warren-----Xiao Jianke (Charlotte)
John Proctor-----Liu Siyang (Stephen)
Rebecca Nurse-----Liu Yueyi (Sheila)
Giles Corey-----Liang Sibo (Max)
Reverend John Hale-----Chen Tao (Tom)
Elizabeth Proctor-----Wang Liu (Amy)
Francis Nurse-----Wang Zilu (Jerry)
Ezekiel Cheever-----Zheng Yuhao (Robert)
Marshal Herrick-----Zhang Zheng (Jimmy)
Judge Hathorne-----Xu Xiaoxi (Shuan)
Deputy Governor Danforth-----Jiang Xin (James)
Sarah Good-----Han Lin (Arlene)

Act 1, "Tituba, look into my eyes," Hale, Tituba, Putnam and Parris, by a smidgen.

Act 1, "How do you call me child!" Abigail Williams and John Proctor

Act 1, "Let God blame me, not you, not you, Rebecca!" Ann Putnam and Rebecca Nurse

Act 1, "She speaks!" Hale, Ann and Thomas Putnam, Parris, Betty Parris and Tituba. A follow-spot in the theatre can wreak havoc on the still-photographic moment. Or maybe not.

Act 2, "I mean to please you, Elizabeth." John and Elizabeth Proctor .

Act 2, "Aye, it be a proper court they have now." Elizabeth and John Proctor

Act 2, "Then let you not earn it." Elizabeth and John Proctor

Act 2, "Mumbled! She may mumble if she's hungry." Elizabeth Proctor with Mary Warren and John Proctor.

Act 2, "Aye. But the Devil is a wily one, you cannot deny it." Reverend Hale, with John and Elizabeth Proctor.

Act 2, "I spy a poppet, Goody Proctor." Ezekiel Cheever, with John Proctor, Giles Corey, Francis Nurse, Reverend Hale and Elizabeth Proctor.

Act 3, "Why, I...I would free my wife, sir." Reverend Hale, Deputy Governor Danforth, Reverend Parris and Francis Nurse.

Act 3, "My face? My face? ... God made my face; you cannot want to tear my face. Envy is a deadly sin, Mary." Abigail Williams, with Susanna Walcott, Mercy Lewis and Betty Parris.

Act 3, "You will prove this! This will not pass! "Abigail with Susanna Walcott, Mercy Lewis, Betty Parris and Francis Nurse.

Act 3, "I say...I say...God is dead!" John Proctor with Deputy Governor Danforth and Marshal Herrick.

Act 4, "Do what you will. But Let none be your judge. There be no higher judge under heaven than Proctor is! Forgive me, John...I never knew such goodness in the world!" Elizabeth and John Proctor.

Act 4, "I can. And there's your first marvel, that I can. You have made your magic now, for now I do think I see some shred of goodness in John Proctor." John Proctor with Rebecca Nurse, Elizabeth Proctor and Reverend Parris.

Act 4, "He have his goodness now. God forbid I take it from him!" Elizabeth Proctor with Reverend Hale.

The End.

1:36 PM / Editor / permalink 2 comments

Sunday, June 17, 2007

A Handsome Couple of Lads Indeed

3:59 PM

Come this August I will finally meet the young fellow who has forever changed how I look at life and my place in it. For now, photos from New Orleans must suffice.

Three of my most recent favorites are below:

My son Joseph, holding his son Joseph--I like the shades, son.
Joseph cleaning fish with Baby Joseph's 'supervision.'
Baby Joseph looking so much like his father at the same age

More photos from the last two weeks are here.

3:59 PM / Editor / permalink 2 comments

Friday, June 15, 2007

"The Crucible" Opens; Will it Burn in Beijing?

2:12 AM

In about 15 hours, Beiwai's production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" will open on the main stage at Beijing Foreign Studies University (June 15). I am too tired and too close to it to say anything terribly objective or terribly cogent at the moment. If you are in reasonably metro-transportation distance, please come and see for yourself; it is free.

Frankly, I don't know what you will see if you come. This is new territory for me; never have I presented a show to an audience when I am absolutely certain it is not yet ready for an audience. But there are extended moments--perhaps, in kinder truth, two full acts out of the 4--when I get excited at rehearsals.

I have yet to "see" the full 4 Acts in sequence, much less a basic run-through on the stage we will tread so soon. It was directed and rehearsed in a basement rec room and several 'stolen' classrooms. We finally got a full day on the big stage today; tomorrow we will have it all day, leading up to the opening performance that night!

However, this I can promise you: a goodly portion of this production of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible" is stirring, thrilling, heartbreaking, and does his genius proud. So, come see us or wish us well. June 15 - June 19.

ARTHUR MILLER (1915-2005)

2:12 AM / Editor / permalink 0 comments

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Is the Ultimate Cold Case Murder Finally Closed?

5:58 PM

Frank Ruhli with the Iceman mummy. Credit: Copyright Elsevier
I love a cold-case murder as much as any other true-crime author; but the closing of this one shivers with excitement and high-moon drama unlike any other I have ever known; and that is an understatement of millennial proportion. I have followed the murder case of this particular ancestral countryman of mine for some 15 years. We now know that he bled to death, quickly, from a high-velocity projectile wound.

However, since we still do not know who delivered the killing blow, the case is not truly "closed." To accomplish that feat of crime-scene investigation, it will take a manhunter with heretofore unimagineable skills. Not even Bert Luper or Dr. Henry Lee can pull that off, I venture. What do you think? Give the excerpt and the link a look and a thought:

Cold Case Closed: 'Iceman' Mummy Bled to Death

By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer

posted: 06 June 2007 11:41 am ET

Archaeologists have determined the cause of death of the "Iceman" mummy, putting to rest a Neolithic cold case.

More than 5,000 years ago, a man trekked up the Schnalstal glacier in Italy and died. The mummified, frozen body, dubbed Otzi, was discovered in 1991 by accident. Since then, the glacier mummy has undergone a slew of examinations from which scientists have gleaned bits of information about the man's last steps on Earth, ranging from his last meal to his age when he died (45).

The remaining question: What caused the Iceman's sudden death?

Please continue reading at: LiveScience

5:58 PM / Editor / permalink 2 comments

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

A Fresh Perspective on the CCP in 2007

6:03 PM

An infamous anniversary has quietly passed here in the New-Old Middle Kingdom. I have recently added AsiaMedia, a most engagingly eclectic newsletter produced by the UCLA Asia Institute, to my reading list. Perhaps you should too. Below, is a good reason why--an excerpt and then a link:

China's unpredictable future

It's not just China's domestic affairs that have kept the Communist Party in charge, writes Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom

By Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom
AsiaMedia Contributing Writer

Monday, June 4, 2007

Eighteen years ago, with protesters marching through scores of Chinese cities and giant crowds gathering in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, many outside observers, myself included, assumed that the era of Communist Party rule in China was nearing its end. ...

But when the Berlin Wall collapsed a few months later, many began again to assert again that the Beijing regime must be on its last legs. After all, not only had domestic developments shown how disliked the Party was by the "People" in whose name it claimed to rule, but the international zeitgeist seemed to be pointing to a future free of Communist rule in all lands.

How then have observers accounted for the failures of those confident "end of history" predictions in a 21st century that sees Communist Party leaders continuing to call the shots in Beijing, Pyongyang, Hanoi and Havana?

In China, one tendency has been to separate the domestic and international storylines. The surprising persistence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is chalked up to internal factors. Much is made of the leadership's ability to find effective ways to appease or buy off some groups (entrepreneurs, for example) and to terrify or simply keep separated from one another individuals who dissent. Attention is also paid to how the regime has skillfully played the nationalism card, has managed to help the economy grow at unprecedented rates, and has pulled back from micromanaging the private lives of the population, a major cause of discontent in 1989.

External developments, by contrast, are typically seen as still indicating that the CCP still lives on borrowed time. International trends, it continues to be thought by many, suggest that Beijing's current regime will ultimately go the way of both the Communist ones that ran Soviet bloc countries and the non-Communist authoritarian groups that controlled South Korea and Taiwan before those East Asian countries democratized.

What's wrong with this picture?

Please continue reading at: AsiaMedia Columns

6:03 PM / Editor / permalink 0 comments

The Moor Comes Home

12:15 PM

Home-Coming

A note: I should explain that when you look at the Results of the Finals of the Third Chinese Universities Shakespeare Festival, you will notice that none of the individual awards went to members of "Othello"--that was by design: The First Place winner was automatically excluded from indivudual awards.

12:15 PM / Editor / permalink 0 comments