Golden dragon to be staged at NCPA today

The actors are European, but they play Asian characters. Men play women, adult women play young boys.

The actors are European, but they play Asian characters. Men play women, adult women play young boys.

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It may all seem confusing, but The Golden Dragon, a 2010 play written by German dramatist Roland Schimmelpfennig, has won a host of international awards for the performances of the actors and its novel script on issues of immigration.

Its English version, which premiered at the Edinburgh festival this August, will now be staged in Mumbai at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on January 10.

Named after a Chinese restaurant in Europe in which the play is set, The Golden Dragon explores the dilemmas of a range of characters who work in and around the restaurant.

“There are just five actors who play the multiple parts in a fluid manner that does not conform to gender, age or race limitations,” said Deepa Gahlot, programming head of NCPA’s theatre department, who invited the play’s team to perform in Mumbai after watching them in Edinburgh.

(The Golden Dragon, a play by Britain’s ATC & Drum Theatre and Plymouth productions, will be staged at NCPA’s Experimental Theatre on January 10 at 5pm and 8pm.)