Men are from Mars, women are from Venus - men and women are as different as beings from other planets.
"Yin & Yang," an intriguing comedy, makes a bold supposition: Suppose these male and female beings exchange their bodies, but not their spirits?
A woman's soul in a man's body, a man's soul in a woman's body. We've heard that concept before.
The production opening today stars well-known dancer/choreographer Jin Xing, a former army colonel who underwent a sex-change operation in China in 1995. She has said that she felt her woman's spirit was trapped in a man's body.
The play at the Lyceum Theater tells the story of a dandy "pretty boy" and an "Ugly Betty" kind of spinster (unattractive but strong minded) who are both murdered at the same time and place.
Good news: English subtitles.
Instead of perishing, however, their spirits have migrated to the other person's body, which has miraculously healed.
Just imagine what happens when a pretty boy gets to wear high heels and the plain jane turns heads as a man.
A series of funny things happen as these very different characters find themselves in each others' very different jobs, circle of friends and family. Their interactions reveal the tensions and frictions between men and women, and the play has something to say about beauty and ugliness, virtue and evil, love and hatred.
"Maybe people can only start to question who they are and think about what they want when they cannot control their bodies and soul," says young director Yu Yadong. "It's not just a light-hearted play to make people laugh but also a black comedy to guide them in looking for deeper meaning in life."
Leading actress Jin, performing the role of the older spinster, says no one is better suited to the role than she is.
