Old House Under the Elms

Old House Under the Elms
Roberts Theatre, Grinnell College
September 5-7, 2002
Producer: China Zhengzhou Qu Opera Company
Director: Xie Kang Music: Pan Yongchang
Designer: Zhang Wei Script: Meng Hua
Consulting Director: Sandy Moffett

Simeon Cabot (Ke Hu) - Yang Weilong
Peter Cabot (Ke Bao) - Liu Junqin
Eben Cabot (Ke Long) - Wang Haisheng
Ephraim Cabot (Ke Tai) - Zhang Shengke
Abbie Putnam (Aibi) - Huang Chunhua
Young Girls - Cheng Mingxia, Zhang Na
Farmers - Hai Bo; Gao Xinjun, Liu Zixue, Li Erjun
Sheriff - Liu Zixue
Deputy - Li Erjun

In February of 2001, Sandy Moffett, Consulting Director at the Grinnell College Department of Theatre, received an email from his friend and fellow O'Neill scholar from Nanjing University, Liu Haiping, telling him that a provincial opera company in central China was producing an adaptation of O'Neill's play, Desire Under the Elms, in the style of the Chu Opera, one of the several styles of classical opera in China. Liu Haiping wrote that the company was interested in some critical input on their work and asked Moffett if he would be interested in traveling to Zhengzhou in Henan Province to see a performance. Moffett made two trips to Zhengzhou during the spring and summer of 2001, first to see the production, and then to work with the company in rehearsal with a possible trip to the U.S. in mind.

Plans were initially made for the company to travel to Grinnell during the first week in October, 2001. The events of September 11th forced the postponement of those plans. However, the Zhengzhou Chu Opera Company did indeed perform "Old House Under the Elms" on the Grinnell campus in September of 2002.