Preview: The White Snake

The White Snake is a truly original production coming to Warwick Arts Centre from Wednesday 1 – Saturday 4 June, and serves as the ideal play to watch to celebrate the end of exams, or to relax in-between them. Telling the traditional Chinese tale of a snake spirit who marries a mortal, their love doomed to fail, director Carl Mok and producer Jess Abrahams have created a wonderful play that is simultaneously heart-warming, harrowing and hilarious.

Director Carl Mok and producer Jess Abrahams have created a wonderful play that is simultaneously heart-warming, harrowing and hilarious.

Selcan Findikoglu is fantastic as the eponymous White Snake, capturing her kind and gentle nature, but also making her ferocity and power clear. Coming down from the mountains to experience life as a human with her playful friend Green Snake (Becky Bryant), White Snake falls in love with the unassuming Xu Xian (played by Sam Kirby). Soon, what was meant to be purely a day’s excursion turns into White Snake and Xu Xian building a life and family together, although their bliss is quickly challenged by the menacing Fa Hai (Astijus Taujanskas).

A still from the exciting rehearsal. Image: Jess Abrahams

The play is undeniably intense, but the seriousness is interspersed with welcome interludes of humour, such as when Xu Xian gets devastatingly drunk, and when three old men discuss their ailments. The acting is supported by the skilful and ingenious use of props and choreography; traditional Chinese umbrellas are used to create a beautiful opening display, and there is a vicious fight scene using metal rods that is surprisingly realistic, adding an element of danger to the show.

The White Snake is an incredible and unique play unlike anything most people will have seen before.

This added movement and the dynamic it brings is due to the WUDS collaboration with Codpiece on The White Snake, an unusual combination but one which works exceptionally well. The play also features music from members of the Warwick Chinese Orchestra Society, who play the traditional Chinese string instrument, the guzheng, the use of which throughout the performance emphasises the Chinese roots of the tale, as does the Chinese scenery with which the set is painted.

Ultimately, The White Snake is an incredible and unique play unlike anything most people will have seen before, marking a change from the common Western plays that dominate the studio shows, and its powerful plot is one that ends on a moving, comforting message of hope: “Don’t be afraid. It is impossible to die alone.”

The White Snake is showing at Warwick Arts Centre from Wednesday 1 – Saturday 4 June. Get your tickets here.