My memories take me back to mid-March 2020. By then, most theatre companies in China had probably already stopped working. Theatres abroad would soon begin closing their doors, one after another. At the time, I had no idea when I would be able to return to the theatre, whether as an audience member or as a creator. At home, I found myself thinking about the day I would finally return to a rehearsal room, the people I would see again, and the stories I most wanted to share with them…
Happy Birthday is a long-awaited reunion: with the friends I most wanted to see, and the people I most wanted to work with. They are Cheng Yi, Geng Mengyao, Huang Jinkun, Li Jialong, Liu Diyu, Ning Zeran, Zhang Mingyi, Yin Yuhang, Wu Zitong, Wang Ruipu, Chen Lu…
At the end of 2020, we finally came together again in the rehearsal room. On the long table were the snacks, coffee and milk tea we had each brought, along with our most precious offerings: Chekhov’s plays and Pushkin’s poetry. This time, we wanted to revisit the classics together, to begin with them and set off once again on a journey of our own: collective real-time writing.
In the warm winter sunlight, we sat in a circle, reading poems and passages from plays. As we read, we began to sing. As we read, we found ourselves embracing one another. As we read, we cried and laughed… Looking back now, I am still moved by the warmth and extraordinary excitement that filled the rehearsal room. How fortunate we are today, to be able to play and create together so freely, so simply, with such joy!
Happy Birthday was born out of this atmosphere of creation. Everything in the piece began with fiction. This time, we tried to find real life within fiction.
Happy Birthday is a record of, and a reflection on, real life by a group of us, each at a different stage of our lives.
Happy Birthday is also made up of fragments of their memories — those of the fictional characters. It is a story about choices, about defending what matters, about struggles, and about love and friendship between men and women today. An unreal dream.
I cannot promise whether, for you, it will be a beautiful dream or a nightmare. But I hope that when you wake up, you will cherish yourself and your own life a little more.
Sifan Shao
March 2021