{"id":121030,"date":"2026-01-19T13:32:33","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:32:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=121030"},"modified":"2026-01-19T13:32:33","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T18:32:33","slug":"scrutiny-theatre-smith-gilmours-pu-songling-strange-tales-takes-audience-wild-imaginative-ride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/01\/19\/scrutiny-theatre-smith-gilmours-pu-songling-strange-tales-takes-audience-wild-imaginative-ride\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Theatre Smith-Gilmour\u2019s Pu Songling: Strange Tales Takes The Audience On A Wild & Imaginative Ride"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The
The cast of Theatre Smith-Gilmour\/Crow\u2019s Theatre\u2019s Pu Songling: Strange Tales (Photo: Johnny Hockin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Theatre Smith-Gilmour in Association with Crow\u2019s Theatre; Pu Songling: Strange Tales (World Premiere). Adapted by Michele Smith, Diana Tso, Steven Hao, Madelaine Hodges, John Ng and Dean Gilmour (thanks to Michael Man, Lindsay Wu, Jeff Yung and Rosie Simon), Directed by Michele Smith, with Dean Gilmour, John Ng \u4f0d\u5065, Diana Tso \u66f9\u6953, \u90dd\u90a6\u5b87 Steven Hao, Madelaine Hodges \u8cc0\u7f8e\u502b, and Noah Feaver, Lighting Designer; Ting \u2013 Huan \u633a\u6b61 Christine Urquhart. Studio Theatre at Crow\u2019s, January 16, 2026, continues until February 1; tickets here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The set is simple \u2014 a flat black backdrop, and a long wooden table set with mismatched wooden chairs. Against it, five performers tell and act out a series of stories drawn from the treasure trove of tales written by Pu Songling (\u84b2\u677e\u9f61, 1640 \u2013 1715)<\/a>, which he collected into a book titled Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio or Liaozhai zhiyi.<\/p>\n

The stories, which he wrote in the hundreds, are a series of supernatural vignettes, both tragic and comic, that reveal human nature as much as they do the demons, ghosts, and other otherworldly beings that become major characters.<\/p>\n

Naturally, there isn\u2019t time or space to include all of them in an evening at the theatre, and the selection by the adaptors, which include some of the cast, is judicious. They ebb and flow from the simply weird and strange to the absurd and comical to the tragic in a kind of stream of consciousness where one picks up just after the other ends. Each of the performers has a chance to stand in the spotlight.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Ng and Dean Gilmour in Theatre Smith-Gilmour\/Crow\u2019s Theatre\u2019s Pu Songling: Strange Tales (Photo: Johnny Hockin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Performance<\/h3>\n

With an overhead light that changes colour, and a table that can be used as such, or as a bed, turned over as a barrier, or crawled under to hide or indicate a second level, and simple costumes that consist of casual, loose clothes \u2014 and toques for Dean Gilmour<\/strong>, John Ng<\/strong>, and Steven Hao<\/strong> that are removed halfway through to reveal messy hat heads \u2014 the production relies heavily on storytelling and characterization skills.<\/p>\n

The formula works admirably. All of the performers have their moments to shine as the storyteller or main character, with Dean Gilmour in a standout role as the Judge who\u2019s been brought back from the Kingdom of 10 Hells. He slobbers and scrabbles his way to helping the dimwitted student who\u2019s sought his help with great gusto.<\/p>\n

All five are entirely invested in the performance, which range from slapstick-like physical comedy to anguish and fear in a kaleidoscope of short scenes. Their energy level never drops, and it propels the winding narrative through all of its ups and downs.<\/p>\n

\"The
The cast of Theatre Smith-Gilmour\/Crow\u2019s Theatre\u2019s Pu Songling: Strange Tales (Photo: Johnny Hockin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

Songling didn\u2019t shy away from serious themes, or an examination of human weakness. There\u2019s the incorrigible fornicator (Steven Hao<\/strong>, as the convincingly self serving rogue) who lives to regret his ways, and the woman who\u2019s tormented and raped by demons \u2014 but lives to exact her own kind of revenge on the household who shunned her instead of helping her. Played by Madelaine Hodges<\/strong>, she’s both intense and relatable.<\/p>\n

Common themes include hauntings, as in the story of Commissioner Wu, who is pursued and tormented by the ghosts of all the rebels he\u2019s responsible for killing. There are demons and other creatures who make the lives of hapless humans miserable\u2014 and dying may not even end the torment. To break the mould, every once in a while they decide to help out, but always with a touch of the macabre and unexpected.<\/p>\n

The takeaway: we humans are at the mercy of many forces that toss and juggle us around at will. The best we can do is hang on as long and as best we can. Virtue is valued, at least sometimes, and self indulgence and wickedness are punished.<\/p>\n

Out of its venerable source material, Theatre Smith-Gilmour\u2019s Pu Songling: Strange Tales creates a semi-chaotic jumble of storytelling and enactment that takes the audience on a wild \u2014 and very enjoyable \u2014 ride of ups and downs.<\/p>\n

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Theatre Smith-Gilmour in Association with Crow\u2019s Theatre; Pu Songling: Strange Tales (World Premiere). Adapted by Michele Smith, Diana Tso, Steven Hao, Madelaine Hodges, John Ng and Dean Gilmour (thanks to Michael Man, Lindsay Wu, Jeff Yung and Rosie Simon), Directed by Michele Smith, with Dean Gilmour, John Ng \u4f0d\u5065, Diana Tso \u66f9\u6953, \u90dd\u90a6\u5b87 Steven Hao, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":121033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[42533,42442,52,62,63],"tags":[23344,42601,42523],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/01\/Copy-of-REVIEW-2026-01-19T133040.101.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-vu6","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121030"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121030"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121036,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121030\/revisions\/121036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121030"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=121030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}