介绍:
Liao Yimei is undoubtedly one of the most acclaimed playwrites in China nowadays. Her 1999 play Rhinoceros in Love has been embraced by young Chinese as their love Bible. Her trios of pessimism - Pessimist's Bouquet, Amber and A Tender Song, have also received wildly positive critiques.
Her book "Notes of a Deviant" or Live a Slow Life Like Me is so far the most comprehensive collection of Liao's writings and photos, including excerpts from her plays, novels, interviews and essays as well as some photos of her and her director husband Meng Jinghui which have been released for the first time.
At the same time, the book is beyond a collection of works. The playwright also elaborates her opinions on life, loneliness, misery and love from a philosopher's perspective in the book.
In fact, Liao is particularly good at depicting deviants in her plays.
"We don't have an answer for everything. We sometimes even cannot give an answer using words. That is why I write plays, in which I create a story and put all sorts of deviants in it and examine their unusual behaviors."
People who love Liao Yimei's drama works are usually attracted by the power of her words.
Liao says a good playwright writes with simple but powerful words.
"I think language is not just a tool but also represents an attitude. First learners often put too much attention on beautiful words and expressions. For me, attitude is more important than those things. Of course there is techniques, but it is difficult for me to evaluate techniques. So I think words should be direct, honest and infectious."
Actress Hao Lei has played several leading roles in Liao's plays, including the classic Rhinoceros in love and A Tender Song.
"I am always touched by her works. I often tell her my soul is refreshed every few years by her works. I think she speaks for us who are not capable to express ourselves with literature language."
Love is linked to many things - a flame, a flower, an arrow to the heart - but usually not to a rhinoceros.
First directed by Liao Yimei's husband Meng Jinghui in 1999, Rhinoceros in love has been put on stage more than 270 times over the years. The version starring Hao Lei in 2003 is deemed as the best one.
The play is about the kind of love that sets its sights and won't be denied or turned aside, even if it has to trample on everything in its way.
Liao Yimei elaborates on what the rhinoceros represents in the book.
This paragraph read out by Hao Lei states that human beings can be as brave as a rhinoceros as long as they can endure pain. Most people in pain hold back like an actinian and their soul eventually becomes a piece of rock. The brave ones always stand out no matter how painful it is.
Just like the author writes in the book, Liao Yimei says she believes pain is always one of her motivations of writing.
"For me, small things and daily life have a little value to record. There is enough literatures and arts about those things - some of them are valuable but most of them are worthless. So I think silence is the best thing we writers can do to the human being if the things we want to record cannot touch you or make you painful."
A good screenplay cannot come true without a director. Liao Yimei's husband, Meng Jinghui is one of the most influential play directors in China's drama world. The couple created some of the most acclaimed works in modern China. In her husband's view, Liao Yimei is lucky as a playwright.
"Nobody will remember me after 40 or even 20 years, but they will definitely remember Liao Yimei's works. If I become a nobody after 10 years, Liao Yimei's works stay. Directors are just the writer on the stage. They disappear once leaving the stage. So in a way, playwrights are lucky people."
Indeed, Liao Yimei is the lucky one among the Chinese artists of her age. Perhaps the key to her success is just like the name of the book - she knows how to live a slow and balanced life to touch the real meaning of life.
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