A Crazy New Year

Today Nanchang International School put on a show for Chinese New Year. "A Crazy New Year" starred all of the pupils at the school (the school is quite small at the moment, about 17 kids there) ranging from 4 years old to 14 years old. The kids themselves provided most of the ideas for the play and it really showed how much imagination they have.

Basically it took the story of the Chinese monster Nien who came to a village at Chinese New Year and terrorized the villagers. Nien, however, is scared of loud noises and in Chinese tradition firecrackers are set off every new year to drive Nien away.

So the kids took this idea and turned it into an 5 act play spanning 4 countries (China, India, New Zealand and Japan, with costumes and scenery changes for each country) as Nien fled from country to country, each time persued by 2 sisters and a Chinese dragon. In each country Nien teamed up with a local monster or demon; Ravanna in India, Taniwha in New Zealand, and two Kappas in Japan. However, each time the sisters and their dragon companion managed to defeat Nien. Supporting characters included Bollywood actors and their bodyguards, camera-clicking tourists and ninjas.

The play also showed how great the kids are in speaking Chinese. As the first and fifth acts were set in a Chinese village Mandarin Chinese was used, and they were totally fluent in it.

All in all it was a very successful production and everyone involved, the teachers and staff, the parents and kids really did an amazing job.