Shenzhen Fatbird Troupe will collaborate with French Virgil Dance Troupe to present the play “The Romance of Oysters and Champagne” on Nov. 29. The play is in French and Cantonese with English and Mandarin subtitles.

    Directed by Myriam Herve-Gil, the story unfolds as a Chinese policewoman helps a French professor conduct research about a romantic legend of a Chinese pearl-hunting girl and a French poet. The story takes place in the lost memories and damaged knowledge that have resulted from a certain kind of relationship between China and the West during and after the Cold War.

    In the early 1950s, when a French yacht sank near a South China island, it was said that no one survived. Sixty years later, a French professor visits this island seeking information about an author who was on the ship. With the help of a local policewoman, he finds the yacht, but no trace of the author.

    So was there an author who wrote a real story or was it just a fabrication? Were there any survivors from the yacht? During the investigation of the sunken yacht, subtle emotions and a deep relationship between the Chinese policewoman and the French professor develop, but are they rooted in attraction or profound suspicion? This play will lead the audience to observe, think and experience all possible answers as history and reality stagger across the stage.

    French romance and Guangdong sentiment mingle and still intertwine here, creating a passionate collision between a legendary story and the real world. Here you can experience rhapsody across nationality and language, time and space and can witness the most ambiguous of Shenzhen’s 2015 original productions.

    Fatbird Troupe, a well-known avant-garde troupe in Shenzhen, is preparing this experimental production for the Avignon Theatre Festival.

    Date: 3:30-5 p.m. (1st scene), 8-9:30 p.m. (2nd scene), Nov. 29

    Tickets: 80-480 yuan

    Reservation WeChat: 胖鸟剧团

    Venue: Shixia Theater Hall, Futian Cultural Hall, 3006 Fuqiang Road (福强路3006号福田区文化馆石厦戏剧主题馆)

    Metro: Longgang Line, Yitian Station (益田站), Exit B(SD News)