Returning home with father

In finding his roots a playwright fulfills a paternal wish and gives a small town the theatrical insight it never had

When the US-born Taiwan-based director and playwright Stan Lai Sheng-chuan brought his comedy Menage a 13 to Huichang county, Jiangxi province, two years ago there was one thing that took him aback: not one person in the audience laughed.

"We thought, 'What's going on? Is there really that much difference between folk in the city and folk in smaller places?" says Lai, whose works have ranged from theater, opera to film and television over the past 30 years.