The conversation turned to Resurrection of the Skeleton, a tale associated with philosopher Zhuangzi of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) that has inspired different interpretations in traditional storytelling and theater. It explores a provocative question: Is being alive necessarily better than being dead?
The idea connected the story's supernatural premise with a more personal question about death and the bonds between people. Feng sketched the initial outline in about 15 minutes.
For Feng, the subject also touches on a personal loss. She entered the Cantonese Opera profession after the death of her great-aunt who helped raise her and who was a veteran of the art form.
That experience gave the play's questions about mortality particular resonance.
"In Chinese culture, death is often something people avoid talking about. It can seem frightening or even sinister," she says. "But death is something everyone has to face. I wanted to show life's many different sides, rather than make the subject unbearably heavy."
After the production premiered last year, the response encouraged her to continue in that direction. A woman brought her elderly mother to see the show. Afterward, they said the experience made death seem less frightening. Other audience members have spoken about finding a way to come to terms with the loss of a beloved pet.
