Mulan was a performance devised for 'The Role of Story in Drama and Theatre Education' module. Undeniably, Mulan has become a household name worldwide due to Disney's adaptation and its global circulation network. However, not every Chinese audience appreciates Disney's Mulan because there is too much distortion of reality in it. Therefore, my colleagues and I decided to shape up our own Mulan, who is the very embodiment of traditional Chinese virtues combined with modern values.

We performed Mulan in several venues--One World Week at Warwick, International Conference Researching Drama and Theatre in Education in Exeter, Cambridge University, a primary school and a secondary school. It was always a delight for us to tell the story of Mulan. But what made it even joyful was that the story appealed to the audience of different age groups. Almost every one of them could sing or hum the Cantonese song we used in the play at the end of our performance. In the workshops for school children, we taught them some basic gaits and gestures of Peking opera. They participated in all of the drama activities so enthusiastically that we could see sparkles in their eyes. After the workshops, lots of the pupils even asked when we would be back again. One month later, a group of girls saw us on the train. They excitedly introduced us to their friends, saying 'They're the Mulan girls I told you!', which made us feel like celebrities! It also showed that they indeed enjoyed our performance and workshop.

Thanks to Mulan, we were able to meet people from different places, have delightful chats about our performance, and share with them the Chinese culture. If one day we can stage Mulan again, we will definitely embrace the opportunity without any hesitation.

 

Mulan Girls

Sabina Li-yu Chang

Doris Siu-foon Fok

Kitty Kong

 

Mulan at Cambridge

Teacher in Role

School Workshop