Sacrifice vindicated in Shaw Festival's The Orphan of Chao

Shaw Festival’s The Orphan of Chao is based on a millennia-old epic tale about doing what is right, regardless of the consequences. And, in the sixth century BCE, doing right means substantial self sacrifice.

Shaw ensemble member Michael Man’s version embodies the poetry of Wen Tianxiang with the classical Chinese drama, The Great Revenge of the Zhao Orphan, written by Ji Junxiang in the late 13th to early 14th century.

A general without morals, Tu-An Ku (Jonathan Tan), is determined to destroy not only his rival, Chao Tun, a minister in the state of Jin, but also the entire Chao lineage. He kills Chao Tun, leaving Bo (Eponine Lee), Chao’s son, an orphan and the only remaining member of the clan. Bo is hidden and protected by Chao Tun’s retainer, Cheng Yeng (Donna Soares) with the help of Gongsun Chujiu (John Ng).

However Tu-An Ku is relentless, threatening to kill all infants in the state of Jin until the Chao orphan is found and killed. Cheng Yeng, extraordinarily loyal by today’s standards, pretends that his own son is the orphan Chao and his son is murdered by the vengeful Tu-An Ku. Believing the Chao line to be over, Tu-an Ku adopts Bo and and employs Cheng Yeng as a teacher.

When Bo turns 18 Cheng Yeng tells him the story of his past, and Bo avenges the murder of his family, seemingly never giving a second thought to killing the man he thought of as his father. Man’s intention for the audience, as explained in the author notes in Shaw’s playbill, is to “interpret the story to society at large…to engage your heart and mind… to make critical connections in your own context,”

Which brings up the concept of boundless loyalty at all costs, for the good, the noble and the honourable. An assassin sent to kill Chao Tun shifts his allegiance when he sees Chao Tun’s mercy and kindness, and instead kills himself. Han Jue, an officer of Chao Tun, kills himself to allow Cheng Yeng to save the orphan. The ultimate sacrifice is Cheng Yeng's, who gives up his own son to die at the hands of Tu-An Ku.

All this in a one-act play lasting 50 minutes. The original play is divided into six parts comprising five acts, containing both dialogue and song.

Director Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster mentioned in the playbill that Bertolt Brecht had been strongly influenced by Chinese drama, and her cast thoroughly investigated and employed several of Brecht’s techniques. All six cast members play both ensemble roles and characters essential to the plot, with no one actor committing fully to their character.

The setting is sparse, but works because the movement is riveting through compelling scenes (or episodes in Brechtian), in which the ensemble cleverly uses scarves to indicate, for example, both birth and death. Another Brecht technique is direct narration by the actors/character to the audience, which helps introduce new characters and forces a “theatrical engagement with issues of our world,” noted Ch’ng Lancaster.

The Orphan of Chao is a lunchtime show now until Oct. 5 at the Royal George Theatre.

To purchase tickets visit www.shawfest.com