Lelia: Yisha Lu, welcome back to Shanghai! So glad to see you again after your last show here in Shanghai, Twelfth Night at the Shanghai Theatre Academy. I'm sure you must be quite busy hopping between countries for both work and your studies. Can you please explain to our readers what you are doing in London these days and why you're now back in Shanghai talking to us?

Yisha: I am currently studying at King's College London. My Masters program is called Theatre and Performance Studies. It might sound a bit academic, but it is lots of fun. The reason that I came back for several weeks is to do a script reading of Oda Fiskum's Tall Tall Mountains and Strange Birds.

Lelia: So what are the differences you're finding between the London theatre scene and Shanghai?

Yisha: Both London and Shanghai celebrate diversity. In London, there are lots of community-based theatres and artists. The London theatre scene is very multi-cultural and 'in the moment.' Of course, you can spend a night attending a commercial musical or experience authentic Shakespeare. But then you can also find yourself in venues where artists immerse themselves into what is happening right now at home or abroad.

Lelia: What do you miss most about Shanghai?

Yisha: Food, food, and food, like 生煎包子 Fried Stuffed Bun, and of course, family and friends.

Lelia: Ha, I can understand that! London's food didn't impress me either while I lived there. So tell me, outside of food and community, why did this play attract your attention enough to pull you back to Shanghai?

Yisha: Coming-of-age stories always intrigue me. I feel I'm learning about life and human relationships along with the young characters. In this play, the young boy was born in the 80's. I was also born in the 80's. I guess we are a generation that has witnessed the greatest development in China. That's probably why we are so curious and a bit confused from time to time. Yeah, that's what draws me to the play.

Lelia: It's also so great to have you tackle this new script when you are coming from such a developed culture of new plays in London! New plays have their own challenges, of course. Can you give some details about one of those challenges, such as the casting process for a new script developed in both Chinese and English?

Yisha: I wanted to have a cast who are Chinese since it is ultimately a Chinese story written by a Norwegian playwright who lived in China for several years. However, the cast also needs to speak both Chinese and English for our performance purposes. And thanks to the collective efforts of the artistic team behind this reading, we are very lucky to finally have a bilingual cast. Plus, they are very good actors. I am very lucky. We have a great mix of theatre and arts professionals who have worked all over Shanghai and even toured around China, as well as wonderful up-and-coming acting students.

Lelia: What part or aspects of the script do you think you'll spend the most time on in the rehearsal process?

Yisha: It is always about developing the relationships. In the play, we have mother and son, father and son, husband and man, new and old friends. These are different kinds of relationships that require different approaches, but all are equally interesting and worth digging into in their own right. Finding the dynamics of these relationships will certainly take up most of our short rehearsal period.

Lelia: So, how did you decide to get involved in theatre in the first place; what were some of the turning points for you growing up?

Yisha: I was doing student theatre in uni. When I graduated, I was very lucky to get some opportunities to work in theatre like working with the dancer Jinxing 金星 in two plays called Awkwardness 《尷尬》(2012), and Ambiguous《曖昧》 (2013). And then, I dunno, I guess I got too lazy to leave this field! You can create a whole world here and you meet marvelous people with great imaginations. Theatre just stuck with me. Then I did my Masters at the Shanghai Theatre Academy which brought me even closer to theatre and gave me more chances to work in both Chinese and English. Of course, that's where we met!

Lelia: Yes, we met at STA while you were assistant director for Nick Barter, the former head of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in the UK. It's been a wonderful journey working with you since then and seeing your process as a director. Considering the future, what are some of your professional goals? Where and how do you see yourself in five years time?

Yisha: I wish to be a professional director. In five years time, I wish I could be better at my profession. I wish I could have a creative team of my own.

Lelia: It sounds like you are already well on your way, with a professional network spanning two exciting world hubs for theatre! After Tall Tall Mountains and Strange Birds, is it back to London? And then what? When can we expect to see you back in Shanghai?

Yisha: That's right, I need to finish my dissertation in London. I will be back around August to direct a small performance for a children's theatre. It is about the solar system. It is so exciting that after exploring, to quote our playwright Oda's words ‘the shores and oceans that make up a human soul’, I can explore the sky with small kids. That's the magic of theatre.

Lelia: Thank you for talking to us today Yisha. See you at Theatre In The Tianzifang on June 9th and 10th!