SIGNATURE WORK
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2022

Traditional Chinese drama and literature have been the source of inspiration for myriad stage productions, films, games, and other items of popular culture. However, there have been few contemporary transformations of Tang Xianzu’s Ming dynasty masterpiece Peony Pavilion. My play, Cyber Peony, is a contemporary musical adaptation of the key idea behind Tang’s play; Du Liniang unable to leave the confines of her home, meeting her lover virtually by their shared dream. I bring this into the current era by the parallel of young women required to stay at home due to pandemic restrictions, only able to communicate with the outside world through the Internet.

In writing the script, I was influenced both by witnessing the evolving sexual mores in the Shanghai dating scene, as well as conducting research into late imperial concerns, such as the role of qing (passion) as an alternative to Neo-Confucian propriety. Situated in reference to both the scholarly literature of erotic commentaries on Peony Pavilion written by late imperial women and sociological research on the use of dating apps, this interdisciplinary creative project draws a parallel between the dream and the digital world. Considering the prevalence of online dating, it is hoped that audiences may resonate with the story and reflect on how their perceptions and experiences of sex and love may have been altered, both by the Internet and the pandemic.