Crazy returns
By admin on 2014-12-29

Teaming up with acclaimed playwrights Ning Caishen and He Nian, acclaimed director Ning Hao caused a sensation in theaters across China with his first black comedy stage play, Crazy Crazy in 2008. Due to popular demand, the work is making its way back to Beijing to mark its 100th performance and laugh its way to the top of the box office once again.

Scheduled for March 24-28, the play will take to the stage of Capital Theater. It originally came into being following the success of Ning Hao's smash hit comedic films Crazy Stone (2006) and Crazy Racer (2009).

The plot revolves around the life of cyclist Geng Hao (played by Ma Tianqiao), who after an important race, is found to have taken a product that contains a banned stimulant and is suspended. Liu Xiaodao (Ji Shuai), a fan of Geng's, takes the drug that Geng has also endorsed publicly (before realizing its negative effects) and suffers various mental problems as a result, from agoraphobia to a neatness freak and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The two neurotic characters are brought together by a female lawyer who has recently returned from overseas and they all embark on an absurdly funny crazy journey.

"The biggest highlight of the play is its 'suspense plus comedy plus aspiration' mode of creation," Ning Hao told the Global Times. "The suspense derives from the plot that Geng Hao, who was trapped into taking a stimulant, is forced out of the sport."

"The comedy is represented in the funny lines and body language. After the subsequent failures in attempts to get employment in other businesses, the cyclist still keeps trying and that's the aspiring part of the play."

Apart from adopting a mishmash of dialects to create further comedic effects, the compelling storyline, black humor as well as the portrait of everyday people with big ideas and wise words, adds to the success of the work.

"The play also satires hot social issues like star endorsement, mental disease, cross-dressing effeminate men and online buzzwords," explained writer Ning Caishen, who tackled the stage play genre for the first time with Crazy Crazy. "The difference between TV drama and a stage play is that you can feel the mood of the audience directly and that's fantastic."

After losing his job, Geng Hao receives therapy from a very effeminate male doctor, their hilarious interactions always bringing the house down. The dialogue between Liu Xiaodao and the returned female lawyer is also full of great one-liners and gags.

Using clumsy English, the lawyer tries her best to persuade the rebellious Liu to amend his behavior. However, the young man's confidence topples her continued efforts, as their opposite attitudes collide.

According to the organizers, a star version of Crazy Crazy featuring Golden Horse Awards Best Actor winner Huang Bo and comic star Liu Hua will hit the stage in Beijing in August.