Published on Oct 23, 2026

Rating:

Genre: NCPA

Dates: Tuesday, November 17, 2026

Times: 7:30pm

Venue: Multi-functional Theatre of NCPA

Prices: 80, 120, 160

Features: Based on The Tomb of Three Kings, an ancient tale of the strange, the Drama Forging the Sword will be performing at Multi-functional Theatre of NCPA on Tuesday November 17th, 2026.

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

The drama Forging the Sword is adapted from LU Xun’s short story of the same title, based on The Tomb of Three Kings, an ancient tale of the strange. The tale was already often spread during the Warring States period, and recorded in a range of historical texts such as Biographies of Illustrious Men by LIU Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty, Records of the Strange by CAO Pi, In Search of the Supernatural by GAN Bao, and Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue by ZHAO Ye in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The drama reorganises the plot based on multiple versions of the tale, with the characters’ innermost feelings and thoughts further explored. The production gives this absurd and wildly imaginative legend Chinese aesthetic forms of expression and Chinese philosophical connotations. As young theatre creators of today, we attempt to glimpse “people of the past”, examine “people of the present”, and contemplate “people of the future”.

The drama tells a story of revenge. “Revenge” is a hot topic in the fields of world literature and theatre. A kind-hearted child is burdened with the duty of avenging his murdered father. Two peerless swords, forged from the same piece of refined iron, are set at opposite ends of hatred. Three heads, severed from their bodies, coldly tangle and struggle with one another in a seething cauldron. In the story, whether one is the king, a commoner, an avenger or the one being avenged, he can see nothing but a pitch-black world when he is blinded by the hatred. So long as the inner struggle is not yet over, the smoke of battle will not clear for a single moment. True strength lies not that you can take revenge, but that you can forgive. When Meijianchi, at 16, resolves to bind himself to revenge, he may have already set foot on the road to cutting his own inner self’s throat.

And yet historical tales are, after all, only passed down by word of mouth, and legends are just left for later generations to interpret. How should we, really living at present, face the hatred around us? The self-worth, the spirit of chivalry, the significance of revenge - all of them are placed in doubt.

Where, in the end, will obsession take us to? Will revenge finally bring us freedom or endless illusion?

Tickets for Drama Forging the Sword are Available now!