Until Spring Comes is a modern, multimedia, one-woman theatre production from China and Theatre By Chance, which is coming to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer. Director Shuyi Alice Wang tells us more about the play.
“This striking one-woman show blends projection and sound to reveal the inner life of Maggie, an actress recovering from surgery and learning to live with a colostomy bag. While rehearsing for her boyfriend’s adaptation of the myth of Phaethon, their worlds begin to merge. His fall ends in fire; hers becomes a quiet act of self-recognition. Following its debut at the View Festival, and four-star reviews at Central Saint Martins, this is a story of faint, steady courage – the kind of female heroism found in small, honest acts of departure.”
Where: Lime Studio at Greenside @ George Street
When: 17-22 Aug
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/until-spring-comes
Tell me about your show. Where did the idea come from?
Until Spring Comes is a one-woman show about an actress named Maggie, who is recovering from surgery. She carries a colostomy bag and returns to the stage for a play directed by her boyfriend, a Greek myth about Phaethon, the son of the sun. Her decision at the end, to accept her presence rather than avoid this life change, is very brave.
We want to build Maggie’s inner space on stage through a dialogue with the staging of Phaethon. There is an intertextual relationship between their stories, but they make different choices. This script is written by Chentao Shen. As the director, when I first encountered this script, what moved me most was Maggie’s courage.
Her decision is emotionally hard, but it reminds us to reconsider what love is. I want to celebrate her courage and dignity. As a woman, I feel deeply connected to her, with a rush of emotion that I cannot put into words. I hope the audience can also feel it through our show.
How would you sell the show to audiences in one sentence?
Let’s cheer together for all our courage to face what is no longer there.
Do you enjoy the Fringe, and what are you looking forward to doing in Edinburgh?
I’m enjoying this process so much, even though it’s my first time at the Edinburgh Fringe and I’m not physically there yet. The whole organising process has been done very well, and I feel very safe as a new participant. I’m excited to see what will happen there, and I believe we will have many memorable moments.
I’ve been to different art and theatre festivals in other countries, but Edinburgh remains the most famous in the world. I want to see how crazy it can be, with all these intense programs and the artists I will meet and exchange with during Fringe.
And what’s next for the show?
We hope to tour in the UK first, and then maybe bring it to my and the writer’s home country, China.