August 20, 2012
It's time to get back to the hotel. As it is not very far away we decide to take one of the little tuk-tuk taxis, known here as hop-hops', for the way they lurch and jerk along like a rabbit trying to escape a fox.
by Greg Doran
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August 17, 2012
We wander down narrow alleyways jammed with stalls selling mechanical birds singing in cages; the tiny silk embroidered shoes which presumably used to cover the bound feet of Qing dynasty ladies; bronze Buddhas and bamboo chopsticks.
by Greg Doran
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August 16, 2012
One of the students who has been showing us around is Xu ('you can me Sue') Yaning. Xu is a stage designer herself and has promised to show Niki a huge 'antiques' market where she herself always goes to buy props for any show she is doing.
by Greg Doran
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August 6, 2012
When the Jesuit missionary, Fr Matteo Ricci reached Peking on 24 January 1601, he had waited a long time to get here. He had already spent 19 years in China waiting for his opportunity to meet the emperor and gain his approval to preach the gospel.
by Greg Doran
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August 6, 2012
Having walked up the Spirit Way, we arrive at the Ding Ling tombs. The Wan Li emperor's tomb was excavated back in the 1950s, and today you can visit the mysterious underground palace, buried under a wooded hillside.
by Greg Doran
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July 30, 2012
We have travelled some 30 miles north west of Beijing, and are relieved to get out of the heavy smog, and breathe some fresh country air.
by Greg Doran
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July 27, 2012
Our 'fixer' in the UK, Professor Ruru Li, of Leeds University, has arranged for us to attend a rehearsal of the Shanghai Opera Company.
by Greg Doran
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July 24, 2012
Ghosts cannot turn corners, which is why the bridge which crosses to the Huxinting Teahouse in the centre of a little lake in the Yu Bazaar in Shanghai has nine zig-zags. Nine is an especially lucky number in China.
by Greg Doran
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April 4, 2011
One of the downsides of cross casting is that sometimes, if the other production you are rehearsing opposite calls full company, you can't rehearse anything at all. This afternoon was one such time. So I headed home from Clapham, and decided to make a detour at King's Cross. I wanted to visit St Pancras Old Church behind the railway station. It was here on September 20th 1744 that Lewis Theobald was buried.
by Greg Doran
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March 31, 2011
In rehearsal we laugh at what sort of a prologue and epilogue we would write today, but in a crowded tube train on the Victoria Line on the way home, I find myself pondering the opportunity...
by Greg Doran
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