A Dream Within a Dream (Edgar Allan Poe – SRF 2013)

Edgar Allan Poe hat den modernen Detektivroman erfunden, seine traumverlorenen, pittoresken Welten haben den Symbolisten und Surrealisten den Weg gewiesen. Die Ahnungen und Sehnsüchte seiner unheimlichen inneren Welten sind Ausgangspunkt für die Text-Musik-Komposition «A Dream Within a Dream».

Der Mensch Poe taumelte von Katastrophe zu Katastrophe, magisch angezogen von jenen Abgründen, die er so kunstvoll beschrieb. Die Spannung zwischen Macht und Ohnmacht, zwischen Kontrolle und Hingabe charakterisiert auch die drei Texte, die Barbara Frey und Lukas Bärfuss ausgesucht haben. «Feen-Eiland» erzählt die Geschichte eines Mannes, der auf einer seiner Wanderungen in ein verwunschenes Tal kommt und dort in einem Fluss eine Fee entdeckt, die mit ihrem Kanu in einen Strudel gerät. «Das verräterische Herz» ist eine von Poes berühmten Horrorgeschichten. Ein Mord geschieht, der Mörder wird verhaftet und rechtfertigt seine Tat und sein Motiv in einer Rede. In «Die Flaschenpost» gerät ein Seemann während eines Sturmes auf ein geheimnisvolles Schiff. Die Besatzung besteht aus uralten Matrosen, die seit ewigen Zeiten die schwersten Stürme der Weltmeere durchsegeln, ohne dass ihr Schiff untergehen würde. Sie sind gefangen im Sturz, ohne je den Untergang zu erleben. «A Dream Within a Dream» basiert auf der gleichnamigen Theaterinszenierung, die mit denselben Künstlern im Dezember 2010 am Schauspielhaus Zürich herauskam. – Sprecher: Robert Hunger-Bühler https://archive.org/details/a-dream-within-a-dream

A ladder! Yes Please And Thank You!!! I would say something about this being the first ladder I've seen in a rooftop scene (true), but in every other of these the characters have been martial artists who very well can jump to the place. And doesn't Zhou Sishou and Wen Kexing visibly climb up from a balcony at one point?

Maybe wuxia ladderology should be my new obsession...

#ADreamWithinADream #wuxia #CDrama

As @liztai points out 'falling from a cliff and not die' is a neccessary staple in wuxia. But here we have the opposite trope that's even more common 'sitting on a roof and contemplating' (and sometimes drink). It happens so often I'm starting to question why wuxia houses aren't built with rooftop balconies. Does this have any bearing in history, or is just such an alluring picture every production falls for it?

#ADreamWithinADream #wuxia #CDrama

Speaking of acting; Liu Yuning* clearly knows how to project
"Another clown, and I haven't even had breakfast yet!"
in neon letters above his head.

(*Evil fairies vs me 0-1! So far...)

#ADreamWithinADream #acting #wuxia #CDrama

Yeah, yeah, haha, a man in a dress - we all know how "fresh" that joke is. But I want to point out that the actor is carrying the clothes extremely well. He's hardly unique either. That tiny cringe that Western male actors do when they need to wear women's, or just unusually colourful, clothes is almost non-existent in the Chinese.

#ADreamWithinADream #acting #wuxia #CDrama

This is a Chinese production, they _know_, but you have no idea how happy it makes me when a character reads an old Chinese book and turn the pages from left to right*. Also, while it's not visible here, it's a sutra bound** volume, for extra flair. A++!

(*instead of from right to left like in a Western style book)

(**one long paper, printed on one side, folded like an accordion, and bound in one end)

#ADreamWithinADream #Storytelling #wuxia #CDrama

Didn't take long... That looks like a pierced ear to me. And that moon has beeb the perfect accessory whenever it shows up! Something, something... camera angles... something, something... well planned costumes.

#ADreamWithinADream #wuxia #CDrama #MaybeAuntyShouldGoToBed

Glorious earpiece! Probably not the most comfortable to wear since the actor's ear has turned slightly red, but definitely better than the clips used in earrings for people without pierced ears*. The character does wear a silver moon under that ear from time to time, so now I'll stare at his earlobes like a ferengi sizing up their opponent untill I can see if they're pierced or not.

(*I have painful personal experience of those)

#ADreamWithinADream #Costuming #wuxia #CDrama

The goldbrushed tassels conveniently showed up for me to pass them on to you! They're not really brushed - the effect was made by hanging a few threads of gold around a core of blue ones. And they go really well with the wave embroideries on the rim!

#ADreamWithinADream #Costuming #wuxia #CDrama