These early sunsets and dark nights seem to be lending themselves to stories of the strange and spectral. To add to this eerie time of year, Theatre Smith-Gilmour, in association with Crow’s Theatre, is bringing the haunting tales of Pu Songling, a prolific writer of the Qing Dynasty, to the stage at Crow’s. Pu Songling’s “Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio” contains 500 tales of all things marvellous and mysterious. Adapted and performed by Dean Gilmour, John Ng 伍健琪, Diana Tso 曹楓, 郝邦宇 Steven Hao, Madelaine Hodges 賀美倫, along with director Michele Smith-Gilmour, Pu Songling: Strange Tales lives up to its name.

Pu Songling takes a mere ten of many potential stories and brings them to life before our eyes. Theatre Smith-Gilmour has a unique way of weaving in movement pieces along with more traditional storytelling: a short story like “Sharp Sword” has very little dialogue, and relies on the physicality of the performers to make the comedy, and tragedy, of the scene. Whereas other stories such as “Past Lives of Mr. Liu” and “Wei Gongzi” are much longer and involve a great deal of dialogue. The variety certainly keeps the audience on its toes, with a mere knock of the table to signify that a new story was about to begin. From a river inhabited by forlorn spirits, to the Nine Mountains, and even to Hell itself, Pu Songling takes audiences on a journey all over China and beyond.

However, I did have a slight issue with the pacing of these stories, particularly the longer ones. There were often moments which went on for longer than necessary, like the performances in “Wei Gongzi” or the demon’s seduction of the scholar in “Temple Demon.” While some of them were comical or beautiful, the fact that they went on as long as they did didn’t add to the story. There were also pauses at the ends of the scenes, sometimes before the moral was given, which made me question if the story was completed or not, and I was waiting for the knock signal to come. If the pacing had’ve been a bit tighter, it could have given the stories a little more of that horror edge to them, as things tend to frighten us when they’re happening quickly and inexplicably, like in “An Earthquake.”

Ting – Huan 挺歡 Christine Urquhart’s simple yet effective set and costume design, along with Noah Feaver’s lighting design work in harmony to accompany the tales of Pu Songling. Throughout most of the production, the staging is simple: five people seated around a large table – just as we’ve told stories fireside for millennia. For the final story, “King of the Nine Mountains” all the stops are pulled out, with regal red costumes and luxurious furs donned by the performers.

Pu Songling: Strange Tales embodies the spirit of its collaborative creation, with each of the performer/adaptors performing a lead role in one of the longer stories and their passions coming through no matter which tale they were telling. 郝邦宇 Steven Hao gives a gut-wrenching performance in “Wei Gongzi” – his howl of pain as he holds his daughter’s body shook my soul. Madelaine Hodges 賀美倫 gives impressive performances throughout, allowing her physicality and emotional range to shine. John Ng 伍健琪 plays a wide variety of characters throughout the piece, and I loved watching him change between them. Diana Tso 曹楓 is a firecraker: full of vivacity, she adds something special to each scene she’s in. Dean Gilmour’s characters have such life to them, and he commands the stage in each story.

Pu Songling: Strange Tales is an intriguing journey into the works of Pu Songling; it certainly sparked my interest to read more of his “Strange Tales” myself. Though the performance does run a little long, the spirit which runs through this play make it a wild ride.

Pu Songling: Strange Tales runs in the Studio Theatre at Streetcar Crowsnest until February 8. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.crowstheatre.com/shows-events/pu-songling-strange-tales

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Cover Photo: The cast of Pu Songling: Strange Tales. Photo by Johnny Hockin.

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