GELI isle: A Grass Stage Exploration of " Soft Flesh and Hard Shell." [1]
In mid-to-late March 2022, Shanghai shifted from a partial to a total lockdown to stop the Omicron pandemic's spread. The daily life of 25 million people in this metropolis had to go into unprecedented confinement in line with national requirements. The situation eased somewhat starting in May, and when complete restoration would be expected was still in the air. Our response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the past few years, a staged discussion and rehearsal, seemed far from the core of the crisis, but today we are not immune to those fears, and we are fighting for survival together with the city every day. Looking back at our "GELI[2] History" series seminars and works that we thought we had concluded early this year, we find the current circumstances bumpy, the journey is long, and we are still making no headway.
In the spring of 2020, the global pandemic began to break out when the pandemic in Wuhan about to be under control. The Grass Stage members in Shanghai resumed meeting weekly to discuss various feelings and what was happening around them. In the beginning, faced with all the anxiety of pandemic prevention at the time, they went to an artificial island in the suburbs. The island was surrounded by water, and spring flowers were in full bloom. Later, they rewrote the long conversation that began there into a text of more than 30,000 words, "GELI isle." It borrows from the similar period and geographical setting of Boccaccio's famous novel The Decameron ...... The story includes various time travels, gazes, and difficult conversations about quarantine issues between ancient and contemporary.
In the early summer that year, we developed a small performance show called "Truth Exercise" through the theater workshop. In the fall and winter, the Grass Stage members continued to work in this direction. They began to collectively study historical books and online materials related to various means of segregation, entering into a study called "GELI History" to expand the depth and dimension behind our discussions and feelings in the first half of the year. From the spring of 2021, we continued to adapt the story of the "GELI isle" into a theatrical work, doing rehearsals and post-performance dialogues in different spaces in Wuhan, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Some of us rehearsed "GELI isle - Luxe Lakes Extra Chapter" in the fall through a theater workshop with our recruited friends from Chengdu.
Today, as winter turns to spring and the seasons turn, the havoc caused by the pandemic continues one after another. How can we understand or not understand what happens to us but still live with people, social environment, and history? The exploration of "GELI History" is about the frustration of the time people are experiencing, and it is far from over. Will these discussions, workshops, and rehearsals help to explore what people do and what motivates them, and will these bring a different turn of the future? There is always a certain optimism in the Grass Stage's critique.
(Translation, original text from ZHAO Chuan, 2022-05)
[1] Click here to read the original article and watch the overview video, video post-production by ZHANG Zhao.
[2] In Chinese, "GELI" is pronounced similarly to "Quarantine."
GELI Isle
April 9, 2021, FEI CHUAN (废船), Wuhan
June 19, 2021, LAN HAN ZHI JIA (懒汉之家), Shanghai
June 26 & 27, 2021, NEXT MIXING (那行文化·零度空间), Shanghai
July 31, August 1, 2021, TIMES MUSEUM, Guangzhou
Performers: WU Meng, ZHANG Ruoshui, Ruojin, ZHOU Yi, WANG Yun, ZANG Zhao, Bamboo, Lili, CHEN Jianhe
Music: XU Cheng, Dahe
Chanting: WANG Yun, Dahe
Visual: WU Meng, ZHANG Zhao, ZHAO Chuan, ZI Jie
Costume: ZHANG Zhao
Director: ZHAO Chuan
Performance Director: WU Meng, LIU Yang
Executive Production: ZHANG Ruoshui
Dance Supervisor: Ruojin
Publicity and Theatre Services: Lily, Ruojin, ZHOU Yi, CHEN Jianhe
Script based on the collective creation "GELI isle" developed by the Spring 2020 Grass Stage Theater Workshop
Participating in discussions: CHEN Zibo, Lily, Ruojin, Valley, WU Meng, WANG Yun, YIN Ran, ZHANG Miao, ZHANG Ruo Shui, ZHANG Zhao, ZHAO Chuan, ZHOU Yi, and Bamboo; Written by ZHAO Chuan.
2020 "GELI isle" Text: ZHAO Chuan, Bamboo, LIN Tian, ZHANG Ruoshui, WU Meng, and Xiao Lina;
Participating in topics discussion and sharing: CAO Yongjie, CHEN Zhongwei, LIN Tian, Lyre, Reta, Ruojin, Shouxing, WANG Yun, WU Jiayin, WU Meng, Xiao Lina, XU Cheng, ZHANG Ruoshui, ZHAO Chuan, ZHOU Shengjie, ZHOU Yi, Bamboo, etc. Discussion text compiled by Xiao Lina, Ruojin, Bamboo, Lyre.
GELI isle - Luhu Extra Chapter
October 30 & 31, 2021, LUXELAKES A4 ART MUSEUM, Chengdu
Workshop Mentor and Director: ZHAO Chuan
Assistants: WU Meng, WU Jiamin, Ran Ran Haochu, ZHANG Ruoshui
Collective Creation and Performance on the Framework of "GELI isle" (2021): Ke Ling, Ming Ming, RONG Yuling, Tutu, WANG Wenfei, WU Jiamin, WU Meng, XUE Ya Han, Yu Ming, ZHANG Chang Chang, ZHANG Ruoshui, Zixuan, ZHU Huayi
Music: XU Cheng, WANG Yun, Xiaodao, WU Meng
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In 2005, Zhao Chuan and a group of colleagues established the theatre collective Grass Stage, devoted to the promotion of China’s new social theatre movement and the creation of non-profit public space. Under his direction, the collective aimed to stimulate theatrical capabilities among common people through workshops and training, to create new theatrical pieces and organize cultural events. The group has focused on deepening the connection between theatre and society, and has made use of a wide range of venues and situations for performances and discussions. Grass Stage events are not only spaces for bringing together diverse elements of society, but also provide, in a country with a political environment relatively lacking in opportunities for public participation, a fluid and varied range of public social spaces. They have been performed in many Chinese cities, as well as in Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, India, Singapore, Italy and Germany.
[2] In Chinese, "GELI" is pronounced similarly to "Quarantine."
GELI Isle
April 9, 2021, FEI CHUAN (废船), Wuhan
June 19, 2021, LAN HAN ZHI JIA (懒汉之家), Shanghai
June 26 & 27, 2021, NEXT MIXING (那行文化·零度空间), Shanghai
July 31, August 1, 2021, TIMES MUSEUM, Guangzhou
Collective Work by the Grass Stage
Performers: WU Meng, ZHANG Ruoshui, Ruojin, ZHOU Yi, WANG Yun, ZANG Zhao, Bamboo, Lili, CHEN Jianhe
Music: XU Cheng, Dahe
Chanting: WANG Yun, Dahe
Visual: WU Meng, ZHANG Zhao, ZHAO Chuan, ZI Jie
Costume: ZHANG Zhao
Director: ZHAO Chuan
Performance Director: WU Meng, LIU Yang
Executive Production: ZHANG Ruoshui
Dance Supervisor: Ruojin
Publicity and Theatre Services: Lily, Ruojin, ZHOU Yi, CHEN Jianhe
Script based on the collective creation "GELI isle" developed by the Spring 2020 Grass Stage Theater Workshop
Participating in discussions: CHEN Zibo, Lily, Ruojin, Valley, WU Meng, WANG Yun, YIN Ran, ZHANG Miao, ZHANG Ruo Shui, ZHANG Zhao, ZHAO Chuan, ZHOU Yi, and Bamboo; Written by ZHAO Chuan.
2020 "GELI isle" Text: ZHAO Chuan, Bamboo, LIN Tian, ZHANG Ruoshui, WU Meng, and Xiao Lina;
Participating in topics discussion and sharing: CAO Yongjie, CHEN Zhongwei, LIN Tian, Lyre, Reta, Ruojin, Shouxing, WANG Yun, WU Jiayin, WU Meng, Xiao Lina, XU Cheng, ZHANG Ruoshui, ZHAO Chuan, ZHOU Shengjie, ZHOU Yi, Bamboo, etc. Discussion text compiled by Xiao Lina, Ruojin, Bamboo, Lyre.
GELI isle - Luhu Extra Chapter
October 30 & 31, 2021, LUXELAKES A4 ART MUSEUM, Chengdu
Workshop Mentor and Director: ZHAO Chuan
Assistants: WU Meng, WU Jiamin, Ran Ran Haochu, ZHANG Ruoshui
Collective Creation and Performance on the Framework of "GELI isle" (2021): Ke Ling, Ming Ming, RONG Yuling, Tutu, WANG Wenfei, WU Jiamin, WU Meng, XUE Ya Han, Yu Ming, ZHANG Chang Chang, ZHANG Ruoshui, Zixuan, ZHU Huayi
Music: XU Cheng, WANG Yun, Xiaodao, WU Meng
In 2005, Zhao Chuan and a group of colleagues established the theatre collective Grass Stage, devoted to the promotion of China’s new social theatre movement and the creation of non-profit public space. Under his direction, the collective aimed to stimulate theatrical capabilities among common people through workshops and training, to create new theatrical pieces and organize cultural events. The group has focused on deepening the connection between theatre and society, and has made use of a wide range of venues and situations for performances and discussions. Grass Stage events are not only spaces for bringing together diverse elements of society, but also provide, in a country with a political environment relatively lacking in opportunities for public participation, a fluid and varied range of public social spaces. They have been performed in many Chinese cities, as well as in Taiwan, Macao, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, India, Singapore, Italy and Germany.