May. The set was created by three young artists, video artist Wu Ershan, electronic musician Chen Dili and set designer Zhang Hui, who last collaborated on an abstract dance piece for the 1999 International Jazz Festival in Beijing. The performers, clad in white suits, move around on a barren stage with a styrofoam-covered floor and three opaque screens that can be lowered and raised, created a timeless, placeless atmosphere. The plot revolves around three of the painting's characters who are interrogated by the emperor's henchmen, the deceptions and betrayals of their relationships carefully dissected. But this explanation is far more coherent than the actual visual effect of the performance, which involves nameless characters who switch places and roles. Puppeteers talk to their puppets and each other throughout the play, and the screens constantly rise and fall.
Actors creep and crawl around the stage.
The splintered visual effects engage the puzzled audience in a relationship with the performance that seems, appropriately, full of uncertainty and betrayal. Facing Up to Keating By G. Pierre Goad Paul Keating, prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, was a celebrity in Asia. Known for his sharp tongue, Keating gained fame for defining Australia as an Asian nation and for his feud with Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad. Mahathir was deeply offended and threatened economic sanctions against Australia before eventually calming down. Keating discusses Mahathir, Australia's Asia push and Apec at great length in his new book, which is a combination foreign-policy tract and political memoir.