Margin Notes: 七月半遗愿清单 Of Ashes and Souls

七月半遗愿清单 Of Ashes and Souls

Seen on: Friday, 4/25/25.

Plot and Background

Zihe Tian & Shall See Theater present the world premiere of Zijun (Neil) Wang and Zihe Tian's comedic horror story about a group of influences in a haunted house during the Hungry Ghost Festival, attempting to discover what caused the fire that killed eight people twenty-five years earlier. This is the debut production of Shall See Theater.

What I Knew Beforehand

That it would be in Mandarin. I was, as Sondheim said, both excited and scared.

Thoughts:

Play: It feels so rare to see an original story these days, and this one is delightfully original. Nine online influencers (gamers, amateur sleuths, and other personalities) have all gathered during Zhongyuan Festival (Hungry Ghost Festival) at a haunted mansion, determined to discover what caused the gas fire a quarter of a century ago, and find themselves in a time loop, stuck in the last hour of this day when the veil parts, and the spirits of the dead may cross over to inhabit the living. As one by one each influencer is taken over by another spirit, we step closer to the truth and the past, and a reconciliation among the dead for what went wrong that day when all seemed about to finally go right. Playwrights Zijun (Neil) Wang and Zihe Tian have crafted a script that is both tense and funny, and increasingly engaging as the audience comes to understand the story being told (it is, I admit, a bit overwhelming at the top, at least for a non-Mandarin speaker). Moreover, Wang, who also directs the show, crafts a coherent arc across the scene-jumping script. I will say, for future revisions, the countdown to the reset doesn't quite make sense in execution of the story--or at least, it was unclear to me if we were seeing multiple resets or just the one hour; if it's just the one hour, the timestands slated at the top of each scene don't match the flow of time as we or the characters are experiencing it. This is nitpicky, but it was distracting in the moment.

Cast: What's really rewarding in this production is that every performer is given the chance to show their range as both their influencer character and the spirit who possesses them. Shining brightest among these is John Jiang as Sir Kong, the slick snake oil salesman sporting a top bun and sham merchandise--until he is taken over by the spirit of a struggling father, and all his cynical veneer melts away to reveal a kind and guilt-ridden man. There's something very moving, as well, at the recognition each undergoes as they "awaken" as their spirit self and are finally reunited with their loved ones. I'm thinking in particular of Destiny Gong's face as she recognizes her husband--the warmth and love and decades of knowledge suddenly shining out of her eyes and weary smile.

Design: Junran "Charlotte" Shi's scenic design beautifully evokes the amorphous and ephemeral world we're inhabiting, with walls made of hanging scrims (some torn and burnt at the edges), a floating clock stuck at midnight, and enough mysterious objects in place to make any escape room junkie feel the urge to start exploring. Lighting Designer Zijun (Neil) Wang (doing triple duty!), Projection Designer Sherry Wu, and Sound Designer Henry Shen partner together to craft each character's transformation to their spirit self with lightning strike, a warm glow, and the gentle tinkling of a bell. Costume, Hair & Makeup Designer Yinxue Wang expertly crafts the look of each influencer, as well as how those costumes gradually shift to something more humans as they are overtaken by the spirits of the house. My only real complaint with the design is the placement of the English supertitles: the scrim onto which they're projected hangs loosely rather than being pulled taut, and words get lost. That being said, the majority of the audience the night I attended seemed to be fluent in Mandarin (based on timing of laughter), so this was an issue for only a few in the audience.

***

Running: Previously playing at The Flea Theater (Zihe Tian and Shall See Theater) - Opening: April 25, 2025. Closing: April 27, 2025.
Category: play
Length: 1 hour, 50 minutes, no intermission.

Creative Team

Playwright: Zijun (Neil) Wang and Zihe Tian
Director: Zijun (Heil) Wang

Designers:  Junran Charlotte Shi (Scenic), Yinxue Wang (Costume), Zijun (Neil) Wang (Lighting), Henry Shen (Sound), Sherry Wu (Projections), Daisy Dai (Production Stage Manager), OFF OFF PR/Paul Siebold (Press Representative).
Cast: Junhong (Andrew) Fei, John Jiang, Fiona Wang, QQ Xing, Kejun Zhou, Destiny Gong, Luna Peng, Zicheng Elain Zhang, Peter Xiao.