SANDPIPER, CLAM AND FISH

25 APRIL, 11.00-00.00 ONLINE

China National Theatre for Children (CNTC), China 

“SANDPIPER, CLAM AND FISH»

NON-VERBAL PERFORMANCE

There is a Chinese idiom called ‘when a sandpiper and a clam are locked in a fight, the fisherman will take the advantage’ – the sandpiper is pecking at the clam’s flesh, while the clam is clamping the sandpiper’s beak. Both of them are not willing to give in, and have found them coming to a deadlock. In the end, both are captured by a passing fisherman, and both sides suffer.

Now in our version we give a twist to the story: why are the sandpiper and the clam fighting? This is because they both want to be the hero in the small river. When they are good friends, they won’t be defeated by the fisherman, but once they become rivals, they end up being the fisherman’s prey. Luckily, that fisherman has a cantankerous wife, so when the couple is quarreling, the sandpiper and the clam have managed to escape.

When a sandpiper and a clam are locked in a fight, the fisherman will take the advantage’ – what if the fishermen are fighting?

The sandpiper and the clam no longer engage themselves in battles, and their friend, the little fish, are relieved. Peace has returned to the river.

Highlights

This is a play that explains a Chinese idiom that holds interest for tiny little children.

And the idiom story is understandable to people all over the world – it’s a pantomime, but its meaning is conveyed with the lexicon of art.

This is also a children’s play that a knowledgeable audience will find intriguing – it is reasonable but reaches beyond their expectations from time to time; it has a strong sense of form, while highly philosophical at the same time.

Author — Li Feng
Director —  Xu Wu
Set designer – Lei Feng
Composer — Jin Cheng
Light designer — Wei Zhang
Costume designer — A Kuan
Choreographer — Ke Chao
Puppet designer -Lei Feng, Lei Wang
Puppet control director — Lei Wang
Sound effection designer — Jin Cheng
Stage manager — Weipan Chen
Actors – Jianlin Song, Weiwei Zhang, Mingju Shen, Lei Chen, Xinwen Zhang, Xiaogeng Duan

Recommended age of public  — 3+

Duration – 60 min

http://www.cntc.org.cn/

Founded in 1956, China National Theatre for Children (CNTC) is the only national children’s art troupe directly subordinated to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China.

CNTC has borne the responsibility of inheriting, developing, creating and presenting excellent theatrical performances for the youth, played an important role of representing, demonstrating and guiding in national children’s drama. For more than half a century, CNTC has dedicated numerous classic and diverse dramas for the audience and cultivated a large number of distinguished and outstanding artists and performers for children’s drama, many of whom are winners of various prestigious art awards in China.

For decades, CNTC has produced and staged a great number of exquisite works, from ancient to modern, in China and abroad, including Malan Flower, in the Name of Revolution, Yue Yun, Magic Boat, The Newsboy, Strange “101”, Twelve Months, Pavel Korchagin, The Creation of a World and The Moonlight Lullaby. The productions created in recent years are: Little Tadpole Looks for its Mommy, The Dragon Child, Journey to the West, Pippi Long Stocking, Three Little Pigs, Special Homework, Little Prince, The Little Match Girl, Adventure of Little Cloth, Chinese Story in Pocket, Three Monks, Peter Pan, China Idiom Stories, TR-E-E, The Mermaid in East China Sea, The Red Tassel, Time Forest, A Little Princess, King Lear, Goats Do Not Eat the Paradise Grass, Flower Goddess,Sandpiper, Clam and Fish, The SEE-SAW TREE, Yeh Shen, The Little Mermaid, March in the Darkness, where is my Mommy?, The Legend of Great Wall, When A Dream Touches…, The Adventure of Sister and Brother Firefiles and The Little Soldier’s Secret Mission, etc. Though CNTC is Beijing-based, the performance footprints were all over China. Besides, CNTC has been to more than 20 countries on five continents in the world for performances exchanging and culture communicating, won widespread acclaim.

An excellent Drama may have direct influence on the children’s life. CNTC will stick to the art principle; devote to developing more talents, producing new excellent dramas to achieve its goal that all for children. “All for Children” is the persistent pursuit of CNTC.