Execution wedding
By Vivian Zhang



This true story happened in the 1920's a dark era in China when many intellectuals or pioneers who had accepted Western ideas and concepts devoted themselves to the revolution, the ideal of democracy and republicanism.

In 1927, to prepare for the Guangzhou Uprising, Zhou Wenyong and his assistant Chen Tiejun were asked by the party organization to set up an office for secret work under the cover of being husband and wife. Though gradually falling in love with each other, they kept their feelings hidden deep in their hearts and were devoted solely to the intense and severe revolutionary struggles.



In 1928, after the failure of the Guangzhou Uprising, Zhou and Chen were both arrested. In prison, they remained faithful and unyielding. Just before their execution, Zhou Wenyong asked to have a photo together with Chen Tiejun and declared that they would have a wedding upon their execution. "Let the sound of reactionaries' guns act as our wedding salute" Chen Tiejun said fearlessly in the last minute of her life.

"Somebody had claimed this was an era with nothing to look up to. I too, had thought I was too invulnerable to be moved, but here I am, all in tears." One university student confided after watching the dance drama "Kapoks Braving Storm", and many more audience members lingered in their seats long after the show was over.



That usually happens when "Kapoks Braving Storm", which won the national top prize for drama art - "Wenhua Great Prize", is shown. In two days, the hit dance drama, performed by the Guangdong Song & Dance Troupe, will stage at the Xiamen Arts Theatre.

Though based on a revolutionary event "Wedding on the execution ground", the drama doesn't follow the fixed modality of classic red works. No super heroes, no guns and fightings. Instead, it illustrates revolutionists and their romance from a humanistic point of view and touches deep the hearts of the audience.



There are three wedding scenes in the drama, a fettered wedding, a spiritual wedding and a wedding on the execution ground. In the first scene, the heroine in traditional bridal dress is bound with a belt of red silk operated by unseen hands behind the scene. She finally escapes from the traditional marriage arranged by her family and joins the revolution. In the scene of the spiritual wedding, the couple struggle to hold back their intense feelings toward each other and submit to the needs of their revolutionary work. Their oppressed love generates to a climax in the third wedding scene when they cuddle and kiss tenderly before execution.

Apart from the excellent performance and music, there are other highlights in the drama as it possesses both the elements of contemporary dance and the traditional art of South China. The ten－meter high setting demonstrates the unique old Guangzhou city: old streets, street lamps, the clock tower and Pearl River. The drama also adopts the newest technology when in one scene rain pours onto the stage and later countless red kapoks touch down slowly.



In 2003, when the third National Dance Competition was held in Xiamen and Quanzhou, the Xiamen audience missed "Kapoks Braving Storm" because a draw decided that it should be staged in Quanzhou. Later the drama received the "Top Performance Prize". It is believed this time Xiamenese won't miss it again.


Vocabulary
kapok 木棉
uprising 起义
execution 执行死刑
fetter 脚镣