BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- A play depicting a tale of separations and reunions between four generations of a family on both sides of the Taiwan Strait kicked off a four-day performance at the National Centre for the Performing Arts this week.
"The Homecoming" revolves around veteran soldier Li Jinbiao, played by renowned actor Benjamin Lee from Taiwan, who moved to Taiwan, leaving his family and Beijing home behind.
To make a living, Li opened a noodle restaurant in a military dependents' village in Taiwan, stirring up childhood memories of the noodles his mother used to make for him. After Taiwan authorities allowed compatriots on the island to visit their relatives on the Chinese mainland in 1987, Li took his family to his hometown.
Director Li Tsung-hsi said he drew inspiration from his own family.
Li Tsung-hsi's grandmother went to Taiwan from Nantong in Jiangsu Province in 1949. As Li grew up, his grandmother used to cook Jiangsu stewed meatballs for him. After his grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, the enticing aroma of stewed meatballs slowly disappeared from the family dinner table.
The bowl of beef noodles in the play symbolizes my longing for my grandmother's cooking, which represents the taste of family, Li said.
Like the director, leading actor Benjamin Lee also relates strongly to Li Jinbiao's agony.
Benjamin Lee's father Lee Huan-chun, a Peking Opera artist, was invited to perform in Taiwan for two months in 1949 at the age of 17. He did not see his mainland home again for over four decades.
"My grandfather passed away in 1985. I think it was the deepest pain in my father's heart that he was unable to see my grandfather one last time," Benjamin Lee said.
Looking back at his performance at the Great Theater of China in Shanghai in early March, Benjamin Lee has mixed feelings. His father performed at the same theater back in 1948.
"On the day of the show, when I was backstage, dressed and waiting for the show, I felt as if my 16-year-old father was standing behind me, dressed in opera costume," Li recalled. "It felt like destiny."
"The show features outstanding artists from both sides of the Taiwan Strait," said Tang Lihua, deputy managing director of the Drama Troupe of the Art Ensemble of the All-China Federation of Trade Union and producer of the show. She also noted that the creative process of the show is one of continuing collision and integration in performance style and other aspects among them.
"The Homecoming" was selected for the 18th China Theatre Festival, and staged at the Daliangshan Theatre Festival in 2023. It will tour Shijiazhuang, Xi'an, Chongqing and other cities on the Chinese mainland in the future. ■
