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Setting the stage for new friendships

By Liu Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-16 07:55

On the stage, they act as mother and daughter, while in real life these young women are just like sisters.

And they have much in common. They joined Night Rain Drama Society last year, both of them are amateur actresses, and both work for overseas companies. Wenwen works for a Taiwan IT firm and Weiwei is employed by an Italian trading company. Both use their precious spare time to take part in rehearsals and performances.

Night Rain Drama Society was established by a group of drama enthusiasts on July 5, 2007, after they got to know each other on the Internet. Its first performance was Our Town, a famous play written by Thornton Wilder that earned him his second Pulitzer Prize, making him the only American writer to win Pulitzers for both fiction and drama.

Tracing the childhood, courtship, marriage, and death of Emily Webb and George Gibbs, the play focuses on the ordinary lives of people in Grover's Corner, New Hampshire. The fictional town was based on Peterborough, New Hampshire, where Wilder spent summers at the MacDowell Colony.

Close friends

Members of Night Rain Drama Society perform Our Town in Beijing. File photo

The drama has turned Wenwen and Weiwei from strangers to close friends, and they also said they are members of a "big family" - the Night Rain Drama Society.

As of now, the society has over 20 members, including primary school teachers, TV directors, undergraduate students, retirees, and employees of foreign firms.

Thanks to some members' close relationship with professionals in the art sector, they have received training from teachers from the Central Academy of Drama, the Central Academy and Fine Arts and Central Conservatory of Music.

The society meets every Saturday afternoon for training and rehearsals, and performs in theatres, universities, kindergartens and nursing homes.

The two girls first met in November 2007. "The first time I met her, I thought Wenwen was special," said Weiwei. "Different from others born in the 1980s, who are usually agitated and impulsive, she is quiet and amiable, and her smile is so warm." While in Wenwen's eyes, Weiwei is witty and vigorous.

In Our Town, Wenwen and Weiwei played Mrs. Webb and her daughter Emily. Mrs. Webb is a diligent, sensible, prudent housewife who loves her family, while Emily is a bright, generous and loyal girl.

Though the two young women, with same characteristics, recognized each other as kindred spirits, the director required them to do more to strengthen their intimacy.

They selected a perfume they both liked and used it to get a particular feeling. "Once we smell the fragrance, we think of our 'mother-daughter' relationship," said Weiwei.

Wenwen also asked Weiwei to show her photos of her as a child and a teenager in a bid to develop "motherly" feelings for her.

"We both think the half-day weekly rehearsal is too short, and a big hug is our routine whenever we meet," said Wenwen.

Weiwei said that she was really impressed with Wenwen, as she was the only member of the society to play a role much older than her own age.

"I sometimes even lean on her in daily life and feel she is really very close to me," said the "daughter", adding that that might be the magic of drama that helps people to "experience what they cannot experience in real life".

Changed attitude

Thanks to drama, both young women said their attitudes toward life had altered greatly.

The drama society is an organization with people from various backgrounds and ages, but all of them share the same dream.

A good play needs everyone to treat each other decently and to trust each other. This spirit has made Night Rain akin to a big family.

The younger members of the society have learned to be more responsible, while the retired members have received a new lease of life.

Our Town is a classic drama focusing on the universality of human experience and describing people's daily lives.

According to Wenwen, the drama tries to make the audience think about the meaning of each minute of their own lives.

"When I read the play for the first time, I thought it was too plain, vapid and lackluster and lacked tension, but after I finished it, I was deeply touched," recalled Weiwei, adding that the more she performs, the more she realizes the importance of love and care.

Wenwen agreed, saying that Our Town had influenced her attitude toward her work and family.

Her high-pressure career at a multinational firm often made her depressed and anxious, "but now, I have become more positive, stable and coolheaded, and I contact my parents more often than before", she noted.

Weiwei shared the same feeling. "I am now much more considerate toward my parents, asking my mother whether her backache has eased or telling my father to drink less to stay healthy."

They also recalled that after watching the play on Nov 29, Alan R. Kahn, the translation proofer of Our Town, talked at great length with the members of Night Rain. One sentence moved the two girls the most. "Thank you for your play, the thing I most want to do now is have a most romantic hug with my wife when I go home," he said.

Wenwen and Weiwei indicated that they have realized that no matter how quick the pace of life is, you should always try to stay at peace with yourself.

"Cherish life and the people around you," they said. "Be calmer, more positive, and happier, no matter the pressures you face."