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theatre

Preview, Unity Theatre Presents 'Fans hen' by David Hare. Directed by Richard Mays

When William Hinton returned to the United States from China in 1953, he had with him the record of a unique experience. The notes he made in Long Bow Village, some four hundred miles from Peking, became the foundation of a book, Fanshen - a documentary of revolution in a Chinese village.

Fanshen means 'to turn the body' or' 'to turn over'. Hinton's insight into revolutionary Chinese peasant society is 8 valuable contribution to our understanding of socialist China. As Hinton says; The story revolves around the land question. Without understanding the land question, one cannot understand the revolution in China, and without understanding the revolution in China, one cannot understand today's world!' 'What happened in China yesterday may well happen in Brazil, Nigeria, or India tomorrow.'.....And indeed has already occured in Ethiopia, Cambodia and Vietnam.

'Land reform is on the agenda of mankind.'

While remaining completely faithful to the spirit of the book, English playwright David Hare has created an 'epic' drama of Brechtian dimensions. He has successfully preserved the important polittical points, emotional impact and humour of Hinton's book, translating them into terms appropriate to modern western society. Like Brecht, Hare uses his play to instruct. Not only does the play inform us about China, but also about ourselves.

The themes are complex. Hare has tried to make his play conceptual enough to give it universal reference, but direct enough to make it specifically relevant for its western audience. For example, women in feudal China were treated as chattels. They could be bought and sold, raped and beaten. When the peasants [unclear: over hrew] the landlords, women were able to overthrow their centuries-old roles as human animals but not without a struggle. It is the same struggle that is paralleled along similar lines in our own society.

The play puts the question: 'Who depends on whom for a living?' Do the peasants depend on their landlord, or is it the landlord who is dependant upon the peasants for a livelihood? Although the question is satisfactorily answered in its Chinese context, the implications for our society are bound to cause vehement argument. It is a question of property. Directly translated the question becomes: 'Do the workers depend upon their employer, or is it the employer who depends for his existence on the workers?' Hare provokes the question. It is up to his audience to conduct the argument.

Hare does not show the revolution in a rosey-red glow. The play is a chronicle of mistakes. The peasants are mean, selfish, greedy and superstitious. Power goes to their heads. Even the government-sponsored work-team is guilty of high-handed activities which cause strife and personal difficulty. None of the characters really understands what the revolution is all about; that the concept of Fanshen means more than winning land, houses, implements and food. The revolution was a struggle to change the character and consciousness of a whole continent; a struggle that is still going on in China today. In order for the peasants to understand their society, they must first learn to have faith in other people. This play shows in microcosm what revolution means in human terms to real people.

Fanshen opens at Unity Theatre on Wednesday August 4th. There will be 16 performances Tuesday to Saturday at 8pm, and two Sunday [unclear: fternoon] performances (8th and 15th Aug) at 4pm. The play closes on Saturday 21st August. Admission for students and to holders of a union card is $2.00 - general public $2.50.