Ding Naizhu
Theatre producer
There are two things I do every day. First, brewing tea, I drink a lot of tea, especially Chinese Taiwan alpine tea, and later because Teacher Lai likes Pu'er, I also began to drink citrus tea. The second is to chat with Mr. Lai during the meal, and the opening words are often "how is today", how is the work, and how is the situation today.
We enjoyed self catering and occasionally ordered takeaway. Teacher Lai mostly cooks Western food, accompanied by tomatoes and onions, and I like to make braised food. We both have different tastes. Let's say I like to eat wings, he only eats brisket. I like to eat fish, he is afraid of thorns when he eats fish. He likes to eat sour, and he eats everything dipped in vinegar, but I eat dumplings dipped in soy sauce, and Mr. Lai said that he has never heard of this way of eating, and people don't put vinegar.
Many people don't know that the personalities of the two of us are almost opposites. Teacher Lai is much more delicate than me, his five senses are keen, and he always notices small details quickly. His ability to listen to music is also extraordinary, able to hear the mood of each performer, often "you listen to this level", I listen to it, how can music still have layers? But he didn't think I was funny either. On the contrary, I pity him, and every time I teach me for a long time, I have to listen for a long time to understand that there is such a little meaning. I don't have that talent.
But Mr. Lai always trusted my judgment. I have always been good at looking at the general direction, and the few sensitive ones give play.
Good drama is healing. Live performance—a piece of music, a dance, a play—is a kind of spiritual healing for all who walk into the theater. I have always felt that continuous learning is necessary for human beings, and the foundation of learning is interest. Drama is fun, it's a "game". Only those who really understand the game, those who know how to enjoy the game and have fun, can really live. That's why Konosuke Matsushita said that you must play 100% when you have fun, and you can be equally engaged when you work.
The proportion of women among people who are still working today is increasing, especially in Asia and the Chinese world. I often tell people that if you look at world history, the sooner the power of women is released, the stronger the country. Now that the audience in theaters is so many women, there are more female directors and playwrights stepping into or staying in the industry, and there are more works with women's issues, which is a natural trend, but first of all, let them have more platforms to be seen. Maybe one day you won't pay attention to what gender this director is, and TA has good works anyway.
In the past, because of the theater, we were releasing new plays almost every month every year, and suddenly all the work of the past three years has come to a standstill, but it has quieted us down and had the opportunity to re-examine ourselves. Usually when I encounter difficulties, the first thought is to think, what is my bottom line. When the entire troupe was shut down for almost 6 months, open source was no longer possible, and all our actions were spent on intercepting the flow and streamlining expenses. Living is our bottom line.
During that time, Mr. Lai was still writing, and he finally got a long time to do what he had always wanted to do—to put his 12 plays into English and eventually publish them at the University of Michigan Press.
The uncertainty of life is the norm. Maybe sometimes you do something unintentionally and one day you hear an echo.
In 1987, I spent more than half a month in the northwest of India, at the foot of the Himalayas, to see some historical sites. Many friends went there, and Europeans built simple houses with iron and wood, and it was difficult to get electricity. It was very cold, and in the second week I asked a friend if it was possible to find some water, I wanted to take a shower or wash my clothes, he said yes, I will find water for you right away. After about 40 minutes, I saw a woman approaching with a bucket of water in the distance. This bucket of water, my baby to wash my hair and bath, wash my face and wash clothes, used it for many days. Later, as I was about to leave, I asked my friend if the water was difficult here? He said that in fact, we have water here, but the source of water is in the mountains, and every time we use water, we have to go to the source to draw water down. I asked him, how much would it cost to build a drainage pipe? He said more than $20,000. I asked again how much it would cost to pave a road, and he said it was about $10,000. After returning to Taipei, I told some friends about this experience, and I asked if we could come and raise some money for them. Twenty or thirty thousand dollars can make a big difference in their lives, right?
In 2009, my daughter got married, and my son-in-law is a Bhutanese national. They are going to have their wedding in the mountains, which is a very well-built area nearby. Before the wedding, I was taking a shower over there and suddenly remembered that this is where I came 20 years ago. I connected the first water pipe that year. I never imagined that one day my daughter would be a beneficiary, she would have a wedding here, and she would live there for several more years.
I have never forgotten that bucket of water in my life. It allowed me to see how intimately connected I am to the world and hear the echoes of life due to antecedents.
Content Producer: Sun Zhe
Curated by: ELLE Task Force
Edited by Sherry
This column is from the April issue of ELLE of World Fashion