On the evening of May 21st 2017, SUSTech Drama club played out their adaptation of “Die Physiker”, also known as “The Physicists” at the SUSTech Theater to mark the end of the academic year. With 3 performances in two days, the play was almost entirely directed and produced by the students, and attracted more than 300 people and heaps of positive reviews.
“The Physicists” is a play written by Swiss playwright Frederick Durrenmatt in 1961 at a time when the Soviet Union and the USA were locked in a Cold War racing to develop increasingly destructive technologies. The story revolves around three supposedly “insane” characters in an asylum, involved in murders and a love story, and it reveals the brutal reality of scientific research trapped by military, commercial, and political forces. It deals with fear and bravery, and the ethics of science research and for these reasons the play’s relevance is timeless, and still very much appreciated in today’s world.
“Directors, actors and behind-the-scenes staff starting from scratch”
Drama Club instructor Wang Hao Ran frankly admits: “From the director to the actors to the behind-the-scenes staff, they are all students starting out from scratch in the performing arts”, explains the the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts graduate and independent screenwriter. “Their debut was a full length 2 hours drama, and they put in a fantastic effort and performance, one of the best I’ve seen in a long time”.
It was not only the actors involved, there was also considerable work put in by the director, stage director, light crew, sound engineers, stage artists, stylists, props, make-up, publicity and many others.
The director Liu Shuangqing says that the most difficult part of the work is communication. During the preparation of the play, the actors and staff often exchange on every topic “because everyone has their own ideas”; and everytime there was a problem he had to go back and forth to the university administration, which was very time consuming. “In these last 40 days, there were rows up until the middle of the night, we were so busy that we didn’t sleep well, or eat well. There were a few sleepless nights too many. But after the final performances, we all feel it is worth it when we heard the audience warmly applaud and appreciate our hard work.” Liu Shuangqing explains.
Wang explains that during the rehearsal process he only pointed out small mistakes and came to the rescue when the students were truly out of their depth. “I think that the students themselves can now lead the whole drama production, even if there is no instructor, the Drama Club can operate independently”.
The end of the performance was marked by the audience’s warm and lasting applause. “The Physicists” is a play which truly reflects the goal the Art Center has always insisted on: providing first-class art education at first-class science and engineering universities,” said Bibao Yi, director of the Art Center of our school, who of course sat in the front seats for the show.
Contributed by: Arts Center
Edited by: Jeremy Welburn
