Imagine a stage performance using real mountains, rivers and buildings as the background and hundreds or thousands of performers. In China, world famous director Zhang Yimou and his team, Fan Yue and Wang Chaoge created just that. Called the Impression Series, there had been since1998, at least 10 widely acclaimed large-scale productions including Impression Sanjie Liu, Impression West Lake and Impression Lijiang. Not sure if Encore Melaka in Impression City, Kota Laksamana, Melaka falls under the category. The show helmed by Wang Chaoge, though touted as the first such series outside China, involves 200 performers and is staged in a building designed by Wang Ge from the Beijing Institute Of Architectural Design, which boasts of a 360 degree rotating auditorium, innovative and stunning video projection mapping, multi-stage hydraulic sets and advanced lighting. The director and her team reportedly spent nearly two years studying Melaka’s history, culture, traditions and the people but still, there had been complaints about the show being too slow moving and the three different stories in the show which uses three languages; Mandarin, English and Malay, in its narration, doesn't seem to connect. I first saw clips of the show in TV and then Mau Wei called to ask if I was interested in watching it and yes, come December, we were at the theatre overlooking Selat Melaka, the Straits of Malacca. The show is a visual delight no doubt. Perhaps, in a show like this, it's not more about the story but more about the costumes, dances, choreography and the superb sets and lightings; and in our case, there was delight too when we posed for photos with the performers after the performance....
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