It started with a laugh. That is simply the best way to describe my initial opinion of a play I expected to be dramatic and enlightening. Before going to see the Illinois Theatre’s take on The Other Shore at Krannert, I decided to stray from researching previous attempts at the production. I did know, however, that The Other Shore — written by Nobel laureate Gao Xingjian — detailed one’s path to self-enlightenment and was proscribed before its 1986 release by the Chinese government. What I did not expect was to view a philosophical piece that takes its viewers in and out of the mind of an individual struggling to figure out his place in life.
As I stated before, it began with a laugh. I wasn’t quite sure if I was a watching the beginning scenes of a play or a rehearsal when the actors and actresses walked unto the main floor in lounge clothing, laughing and discussing topics as trite as the weather. The scene leader (as I like to call him), portrayed by Ryan Leonard, seemed to almost be leading a Zen session as he stretched out a rope and asked the others to relate their lives and relationships with the overall structure of the rope. I still, somehow, found myself drawn into the interactions between the people on the main floor. Though Leonard brought philosophical questions of life, love and the confrontational moments we may face in between to the center of the “stage,” I never found myself disengaged or wishing for more. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, which left me wondering if the game of rope (as I also like to call it) was an introduction to the production or the beginning of the production itself. Nonetheless, I was intrigued.
The remainder of the play was, quite frankly, a whirlwind. I felt like I was thrown in and out of beautifully choreographed and designed scenes that were sometimes 
confusing as all hell, but held their own because of the interactions between the actors and actresses. One scene had a woman strutting across the main floor accusing the other women of being jealous because she pleases their husbands, while the following flashed to a room where a man with a whip threatened those within to continue searching for what completes them. Beautiful shades of coloring projected throughout scenes or the sprinkling of snow in another painted images that placed me in the world of these characters sometimes more than the lines spoken.
Almost every scene had all of the actors/actresses feeding off of one another for a line or a series of complex movements. That may sound muddled, but trust me, when you have one person on one side of the room able to complete a sentence for the person rolling on the ground it’s magical. One of the most entertaining (and still bewildering) scenes from The Other Shore involved the Man and his followers entering a room full of hues of blue and red and engaging in a game with the Card Player. Strung up pieces of cloth (bear with me here) floated in patterns across the main floor as the actors relied on one another to continue a line, and the Card Player almost stole the show with his overdramatic lines. I felt like I was in a scene of Aladdin. Spoiler: there’s even a dance scene.
Though The Other Shore details an individual’s journey to self-realization, what appeared to be noted was how important the roles of those you encounter happen to be in your life. Through a series of scenes that differed from one another extremely so, the take on the piece will hold on to your attention visually and thoughtfully in a peculiar fashion, but nonetheless, it will leave you thinking: what am I looking for in my life?
The Other Shore will be showing in Krannert Center for the Performing Arts’ Studio Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27th — Saturday, October 31st with a Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. on November 1st. Tickets start at $25, but special pricing is available for seniors, students, youth and groups.
Photographs taken by Scott Wells.