“As long-time cross-talk fans, the playwright Dongdongqiang and myself want to offer something different from the prevalent commercial comedies by combining elements of traditional cross-talk with Western drama,” Zhang Yichi explained.

“As for the subject matter, we hope to leave the audience something to talk about after the laughter.”

“This work is a typical example of Beijing school comedy which often features caricatures of social phenomenon and a really good script is the footstone to the play’s success,” commented audience member Zhang Dong after seeing the play.

Village in the City

Picture migrant workers coming home after a long day to “change shifts” with the rats in their apartment. In another scene, although food rations are low, they improve for a day during a party celebrating the boss’ wife’s dog giving birth to puppies. And despite accidents and other safety hazards, instead of making practical changes a company manager hires a fengshui master to solve the problem.

These situations may sound absurd, but they are real stories of life as a migrant worker in the big city. New Worker Art Troupe staged Village in the City, a dramatic comedy starring and directed by migrant workers themselves, presenting their tales of toiling away in the metropolis at Chaoyang district’s Nine Theater during September 17 and 19.

A scene from Village in the City.

These true stories were collected during a survey of the living conditions of migrant workers in Suzhou, Xi’an, Shenzhen and Shanghai last year. “The experiences fellow workers told us were both bitter and comical. That’s when we got the inspiration to write them for the stage,” said Xu Duo, actor and director of the production.

Xu Duo sees this satire as “tearing off the hypocritical surface.” For example, one of the stories Clues of a couple, tells of a group of men who work in the city but have to live far away in a remote area. They build and serve the city with their hands, but due to low pay and high rent, are forced to linger on the fringe of mainstream society.

Village in the City was already staged in March and saw minor success. “But the theater could only hold about 100 people,” Xu Duo added. The drama drew audiences from various social backgrounds, and audience feedback revealed most felt the play accurately portrayed the life of migrant workers.

September’s production of the work featured new storylines focusing on recent social events, such as the Foxconn employee suicides.

“We want our voice to be heard by as many people as possible,” Xu Duo cited as the reason he directed this drama.