On Dec. 6 and 7, “A Play Called Zhuangzi,” an original work by Xinning Shao ’25, will bring the Taoist teachings of the ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi to stage.
The play follows our protagonists Dr. Shoelace and Zi You, who are trapped inside “Zhuangzi,” the eponymous text. As they begin to understand their existence as written characters, they grapple with their conceptualization of free will. The play blurs the line between author and character, as the protagonist seeks freedom from a prewritten and predestined story.
“It’s about the heightened sense of your own story,” said Shao. “Is there really anyone writing our story? [I hope] this makes people feel curious about what Zhuangzi is saying … But what does it really mean to let go?”
Zhaungzi was a philosopher active during the Song Dynasty. Known for his humoristic and ironic parables, his texts invite readers to wander and question societal dichotomies.
Sophia Schwaner ’26 takes on the role of the Chinese philosopher. According to Schwaner, Zhuangzi’s work is refreshing due to its divergence from popular Western philosophy.
“The way that this text is written is very artistic and it reads as poetry sometimes,” said Schwaner. “The brevity of this piece is beautiful. It’s presenting philosophical thought in a very artistic and moving way … you feel affected by the text.”
Dr. Shoelace and Zi You conflict in their beliefs towards human fate. Dr. Shoelace demonstrates a more deterministic approach to their situation. The young Zi You, on the other hand, believes in free will rather than destiny.
Thus, Zi You sets out on a journey through the Zhuangzi text to find the freedom she thinks eludes her. Her quest symbolizes the act of writing your own story.
Throughout her story she encounters various personalities, obstacles and ideas that are featured in the original Zhuangzi text, from an interaction with Confucius to a debate on whether one can truly infer the happiness of a fish.
For Shao, this project began as a translation assignment of the original Chinese Zhuangzi text. From there, the assignment became more of a creative pursuit as Shao developed the story. However, as with the original text on hand, there are certain ideas or meanings that may be lost in translation.
“There definitely is a lot of that very packaged ambiguity that’s lost,” said Shao. “My priority is to preserve that ambiguity while still making it make sense, but not logical sense.”
While this might sound counterintuitive, this logical ambiguity is integral in the experience of reading the Zhuangzi text. Even centuries later, there are aspects of the philosopher’s ideas that experts don’t understand.
In bringing this philosophical text to a general audience, actors hoped to celebrate the complexities of “Zhuangzi” rather than shy away from it.
“The adaptation of the play is very intentional,” said Jonas Howard ’26, who plays Dr. Shoelace. “It’s not supposed to proselytize, but rather, it’s supposed to reflect the confusion and convolution of the text into a play that is also very convoluted and complex.”
Howard doesn’t expect viewers to understand everything going on. And that, he said, is perfectly okay.
According to Shao, the production came to life on stage thanks to capable and trustworthy team members, such as director Anna Zhao ’25 and producer Crystal Liu ’26. Liu, she said, was instrumental in securing support from the AACC to fund the show.
As she prepares to hand off her work to the cast and production, Shao is not anxious. Rather, she has found joy in it.
“I’m really happy to see how people take this into their own body and perform it in their own way,” Shao said. “Because I do believe that this shouldn’t be about me. Yes, the script is written by me, but I want it to be for everybody.”
The production will have three shows in the Crescent Theater, once on Friday and twice on Saturday.