咸城 (Salt City)

Synopsis

In a desolate industrial city in northern China, where rain never falls and the remnants of the past linger like salt in the air, a family grapples with loss, longing, and the promise of change

Gu Liangcheng, a retired office worker, lives with his adult children Wang Yuan and Wang Kuan in Xiancheng, a declining industrial town. When Gu claims to have found a new girlfriend, his children’s scepticism unravels a complex web of family secrets, including the long-ago departure of their mother. Meanwhile, the discovery of a supposed meteorite sparks hope for economic revival among the town’s opportunistic elite.

Yang Jingguan’s tragicomic play deftly explores themes of urban decay, family dynamics, and the struggle for authenticity in a rapidly changing China. Through a series of interconnected vignettes and surreal interludes, the play examines the tensions between fantasy and reality, progress and stagnation, as characters navigate their hopes and disappointments in a city seemingly frozen in time. With sharp dialogue and poignant imagery, Salt City offers a critique of modernisation and the human cost of economic development.