 We're both men. Well, I believe in non-traditional families. And we're brothers. My dad remarried, and my stepmother treats me terribly. My mom remarried too. My stepdad fairly tolerates me. So, we're both outsiders in our own families. You know, we, we, we ought to make our own. Hey, I'll take care of you. How about it? In a whole wide world, there must be a place for us. Yes. No, let me, let me say it first. No, no, you don't have to say it because I, I also know. Lights fade. The words peace and love appear on the backdrop. Scene five. The Soviet side of it. The fish handling. Filling cans of the essential high car. Holder, twenty. And a genetically modified chicken. A whole mix of apricot and liquids and a test tube. Sits the mixture then adds it to the tip. Polar, what's that? A potassium sorbet. Please translate. A preservative. Yeah, that's a lot, is that okay? Don't I seem fine? You might have something wrong with you. Something invisible. I see it, there's no problem. The boss said this batch will take three months to ship. Who wants goods that arrive just before they expire? They keep working. The supervisor enters and speaks to Polar. Polar takes out a bag of white crystal. He pours into the tins and it opens up. And what's that? Please translate. Don't you even know that? Salt. Oh, that's all right then. Did you know if you ate an entire bowl of salt you'll die? How do you know that? I'm a certified food technician. What the heck was I doing? Because the man and woman have stopped working, in order to keep the felts moving, the chicken rips off its hollow wings and drumsticks and stuffs them into the tins. All right, back to work. The chicken's canning itself. You just said eating a bowl of salt would poison you. That was more than a bowl full. Would you eat a whole tin of fish just like that? I would. On its own? With rice and noodles, I guess. That's right. No one eats tin fish alone. It's far too salty. If anyone did that, they ought to take some responsibility for their health. Aren't you a food technician? How could you push that responsibility onto the consumer? I'm also a lowly worker in a food counter. Getting paid a fixed wage to do a fixed set of things. This may look like a food preparation facility, but you're mistaken. All industries are now service industries. Did you see the free hotline number on every label? Some tins arrived too close to the expiration date, so we added because there it is. Someone phoned to say it's not salty enough. So we added salt. Some regions have a sweet tooth. So we had a little sodium cyclomate, an artificial sweetener. This may just be a little fish cannery, but don't be fooled. Our product gets sent out all over the world. Really? See these? Kola produces a Taiwanese brand of mackerel. You've seen these, though. Oh my God. How did you get a hold of that? Oh God, I'm drooling at the sight. Hand it over. If you make the chicken rip off one more limb, I'm going to stuff you into a can. Aren't chickens meant for people to eat? My kind eat people, too. Although my tribe has mostly been wiped out, I'm the only one left. The others were all killed by humans. It's a big game, witch. It's been so long since I ate a person. Oh, I'm so hungry. That's good. Let's get back to work. You ought to learn from the chicken's spirit of sacrifice. They're just brainwashed. It was because of this tin that I got to know the chicken. I was a strapping young youth back then. My fur was, well, glossier than now. When the company sent me to see you with a cargo. You can ship cargo too? I have a shipping license. But how would you get a shipping license like that? And if God was taking place, haven't you ever heard of online classes, human? Every year I deliver a batch of tin mackerel to Taiwan. They always sent me because I had a shipping license. But also, so outsiders would know our tin mackerel was actually in the salmon. Not that anyone would taste the difference. I'd made my delivery on my way back to the hotel when suddenly crash, bam! What? The chicken appeared, or the chicken entered my world. No, I should say, hmm, there was a collision. You crashed into the chicken? The chicken crashed into me. Oh, I'm not saying it was your fault. The chicken's brain spotted. Laff room chickens don't have brains. If I said some mad scientists had made a chicken, especially one with six wings and eight legs plus an IQ of 180, would you still dare to eat a chicken? Yeah. Their feed was made of obsolete lab-grown chickens. Your brain would not be much after eating that. They used to be the brightest and the brainiest. Anyway, the chicken had been working in the fast food industry for quite a while with every major brand, but its powers of recovery were slowing. So the lab was replacing it. When we met, it was on its last legs. I used my skills as a food technician to save it, but when it woke up and saw me, it wanted to die. I said, don't be scared. I'm just like you. I steered straight into its pupils so you could see I had an animal's soul. Although it insists lab-grown chickens have no souls. You do have one, right? Otherwise, you're insulting my love for you. Who else has such a spirit of sacrifice? Hang on. What about your lover, the black bear? There are no black bears in Alaska. But he told me just a few days ago. Your lover? Then he crashed down from above, then you started stroking him all over. I know you. What do you care who I loved yesterday didn't air tomorrow? I bought shares in this cannery after so many years here and at last, the lab-grown chicken has agreed to marry me. The banquet's tomorrow. Hope the two of you will come to get your fill. But I just... A few days ago, really? I know. When we first met, he told me he was a thousand-year-old vampire who snatched sick children from hospitals to devour their life energies. I actually believed him. He's changed, though. He's always able to find some vulnerable organism. Who knows where that chicken came from? But if it fills his safety complex, don't you think polar buying shares in the cannery is a retaliation against humanity? I don't know. But they look good together. I mean, if he's taking revenge against humanity, then what about us? Are we retaliating against society? What are you going to the banquet? Well, you have to eat to stay alive. I think I'm going vegetarian. Nowadays, tomatoes are spliced with fish genes, and potatoes can make their own pesticides. Don't think too much about it. If he wants to be a bear, let him. If he wants to be a vampire, let him. He can change anything. The light changes to sunset. That's just air pollution, waste gas from the chemical plant. But I'd rather believe it's natural. You know, there's someone who sees 44 sunsets in a day, and he's sad. He lives on a very small planet. He only has to move his chair a little to see another sunset. I don't know how sad I need to be to watch 44 sunsets. What have you said now? Just homesick. You must have been working here a while. I suppose you'll be homesick? No, I'm just going to go work somewhere else. Why? Maybe this is what they call experiencing life. But aren't you homesick? I have to keep wandering so I can go on feeling homesick. If you don't mind, I'd like to come wander with you. But you don't have a home. You have a home, so your wandering allows you to be homesick. I don't, so wandering will let me search for one. This is the end of the world. Long ago, when people reached a certain age, their families would put them on ice clothes and let them drift out to sea. And I had to be done. To have lived enough on a piece of ice that belongs to only me, floating on the empty ocean as it slowly melts and I sink to the bottom. The Arctic sea is so cold I die quickly. Fish and prawns would eat me, and my children would catch those fish, feed them to my grandchildren. Perfect. Beautiful scenery awaiting us. Have you seen the northern lights? Sue's story. At least roll over. You've been lying there so long. There's a mark on the ground. Your turn to meet the visitors today. I don't want to move. It was me yesterday, so it's you today. You have to take your turn. There aren't any visitors. Who said we have to meet visitors every day? Can they look at me lying down? What are you, a bore? Not without a buyer. All right, all right. Being a professional zoo animal means you need to train every day. Get up. Before an opera singer sets foot on stage, they have to do vocal exercises every day. 365 times a year. An actor's dedication. I'm not an actor. You're playing a giant panda today. A polar bear tomorrow. We need a poo in the day after. How are you not an actor? They're all bears, and I actually am a giant panda. All right, let's not argue. Come on. Practice. To be an all-around zoo animal, you first have to be good at observation. Take monkeys. You have to study the way they walk, the angle they swing their arms, what they normally do. I know, and they're always picking. Please, out of each other. Please. That's right. Try it. You see anyone else here? Of course, you. Wow, I'll see you as a monkey next time. But I still have a body of a bear. You could be a gorilla. And you? You know, I'm all talk. After all this time together, you haven't noticed I'm in charge of singing and you are in charge of doing. Anyways, I'm good at thinking. Don't say that. You're not fun in games. I'm going out. Where to? Need to sort out our shitty household registration. The chicken can keep you company. Chicken! Chicken! Isn't this our home? You know, what management said to me, only a husband and wife are allowed to own the zoo. We're just three unrelated tenants. But the landlord got on an immortal ship. And the immortal ship's hidden iceberg and sank. Chicken! Chicken! Panda can be on his own. The laughter of chicken enters in a large coat. It almost looks dead. If you see polar, while you're out of him, I love him. He abandoned you. You still talk to him like that? You don't understand. The girl who met after me, she'd been thrown out by her family. At the age of 16, she weighed under five stones. No, right, enough. I don't want to hear anymore. The main thing is he abandoned you. And that's why we brought you here. It doesn't matter that he doesn't love me, it's not that I love him. I don't care if you love him or she loves him or she loves you or you love her. I'm going to deal with this management in a minute. I'll persuade them. We need to own this zoo. Let's rehearse. I'll make it official, come by later, and I'll tell him that I'm responsible for retarded people. Yeah, how hard it is to survive and so on and so forth. I thought I was doing it, pardon me. Chicken, open your coat. The chicken opens its coat to reveal its deformed body. Gain in wounds where the six wings and eight legs should be. Right. Chicken, repeat after me. Sir, over my dawn. Look, this is my body. It's been ruined, but I don't hate society and ask for nothing of it. All I want is a home so that three of us can go on living safely. Fine, I should do it. Chicken, pull your coat together. It's exposing too much, maybe counterproductive. What does this have to do with our planet? Who cares? These days you have to appeal to people's emotions. It doesn't matter. I'll be dead soon. I'm just glad I can help you out. You see, even chicken says so. This is wrong. If I known, I'd never have come with you. Well, feel free to go back and see how many people come with you. See, your ignorant, fatal stick works. Go on. Oh, keep, so much coming. The chicken doesn't have a leg to stand on. What about the one? Remember when we saw the perfectly emotionless looking at something? Why do you think that was, chicken? I don't know. They were looking at a distant savanna. Preparing to stand me in that direction. There was no savanna there. All I saw in Cromadon was a pedigree. Lots of astroturf, but no savanna. I'm not sure. Please, don't you have some imaginations? Um... You know, fun. They were standing so upright, looking for right through your head. You can see a vast stretch of glossy green grass. Are ya, Marx? Get set. Imagination! Did they even remember how to run? That's when, but didn't I realize I could only float? Drifting from here to there. I used to ask my mom where our hometown was, but she kept saying she'd forgotten. I guess eating bamboo and sleeping all day makes you stupid. The first thing I remember is opening my eyes and seeing a man in a lab coat. And then hauling. I've never thought about this. Now you're about to die. That's why we could do, all we could do was find a zoo to look at us. At least we're self-employed. How else would we be able to get on? It's dangerous out there. They take what they can and get from you, and then they toss you out. Just to look at me. Actually, I was lying about going out. This is our last day here. The zoo is being closed down. Why? Because it's got forsaken place like this doesn't need a zoo. The three of us don't have the right legal documents to stake a claim to this place. They're coming to shut us down tomorrow. What do you happen to this place? Another factory, I guess. Let's enjoy our last moments here. Various bits of zoo paraphernalia here. Cagging rings, springboards, hamster wheels, the candor drill. They'll shake the curtain. This reminds us of the past. They played, it's like kindergarten. Come join us. The chicken abruptly explodes and dies. Leaving pile of minced meat on the ground. Chicken! Don't bother. The chicken, gone. Then the chicken will always live on inside of your body. The candor starts eating the meat. A dark cloud drifts in. On the cloud is an immortal tortoise. Oh! Sir, are you here to save the chicken? That's brilliant. Chicken! We should be able to count as a family. Is the tortoise sending us a message? The immortal tortoise use our plastic bags. The immortal tortoise falls and his shell shatters. Aren't the emotos supposed to not die? His flesh is so soft, we need the shell. That's why he needed the shell. Don't touch him! The woman handles it on the float. She is dressed like a warrior with protective headgear. They have a little bit of a tube around her waist. They're having metals in the blood of all the sea creatures now. It'd be bad for you. Who are you? Trash collector. Why are you collecting trash? Someone has to do it. He's watching the minced meat. The woman reaches up on a little bit of a tube. No! No! No. No need. The chicken is with us. Just the immortal, please. And then, many of them. Now what? Will they disappear on their own? Anyway, someone has to collect the trash. Okay, you two should get away as soon as you can. The ice caps have melted. The sea levels are rising. All this is going to be underwater. Mental cages and the suicide boat drift far. The panda wants to grab them, but the duck stops it. It doesn't matter. Someone will be here to collect the trash. Don't leave me. Don't leave me. I won't. I won't. I don't know why, but I feel very calm right now. Scene seven. Same, same. A tiny desert island surrounded by endless ocean. A few items on display. A pyramid of tins. Ascended in Taiwanese language. The black bag helped from scene one. An enormous stuffed hat. A duck shaped in a tube. The man appears. Welcome all. I'll be your tour guide today. My name? That's not important. To be honest, I've forgotten. It's been too long since everyone's called me here. You. Quiet. This is a museum. The museums aren't just about collecting things. You have to lay them out attractively. No way to shop in those. You have to look at history, aesthetics, cultural background. Understand? Never mind. You will by the endless beach. Our first exhibit is the black bear from the Ice Age. What? There were no black bears in the Ice Age, only pandas? Wait, who's the guide? You or me? Oh, you're a biologist. Sure, whatever. I'll make a note. Anyways, I have a story about the black bear. You perked up, didn't you? When I said story, huh? This will blow your mind. This black bear looks fierce. But it says, wife, who wears the pants? You know, half his size, but she beat him flat when it came to hunting her fishing. He filled his belly with discarded trails at the market. She was furious. It makes me look bad when you eat other people's leftovers. She threw three fish tails at him. Your rations. Oh, couldn't you give me the heads, too? No. I'll need them for my accounts to keep track of my calorie intake. The cupboards were full of stinking fish heads. A pair after pair of eyes staring down at him? When he complained again, his wife grabbed a handful and stuffed them down his throat. Go ahead. I hope you choke. But he really did choke. As he died, he heard his wife sobbing. I'm sorry. I won't do that again. That's why he looks so shocked. What do you mean you don't understand? This is a cautionary tale, warning us to... What? No. Not a cautionary fable, a cautionary tale. Anyone want to touch him? Don't worry. He's dead. See? See? Okay. Next, under the bear, but such a difference. See how cute. Whatever's wrong with you, one look at him will heal you. The pandas just sit there eating bamboo. Sorry, I can only go... I can't go around bamboo and this got to the second place. Yes, biologists, you have another question? Pandas eat meat and have been known to attack humans. Don't repeat that. Hey, you see that we have... You're making the children cry? Wait, hang on. This show is R-rated. Where did those little bastards come from? Hey, parents, if you can't, if you can't keep silent your kids, just put your hands around their neck and... We use them very tight and hang them outside to play. We have a cafe here, all fair trade and whatnot, bougie enough for you. You want a voucher? Have two. Okay, three. Seven half fruit juice, all right. All freshly squeezed organic. Don't ask me for the organic certification. Excellent. Goodbye. There have been one for children. Too many responsibilities. Where was I? Hey, biologists, stop interrupting. If you're a real biologist, why aren't you out working to save humanity? Humanity is dying, didn't you know? One more word out of you and you can take over this tour. And now we come to this little duck. Isn't he odd-looking? Actually, he's a helmet, a safety helmet. You ever heard of those? What about scooter? No? Have times changed that fast? It's a vehicle about this long, didn't go too fast, but so romantic. In Taiwan we call it chasing the wind. Riding along. Human wrapped around a machine. It was really dangerous. That's why we needed these helmets. There was a safety helmet. A watermelon getting smashed. Breaker with flesh everywhere. I always felt bad for the watermelon. Safety helmet. Go ahead. We've checked. It's VKH-free. I'll trouble you there. Okay, enough nostalgia. He checks the expiration dates on the cap. October. March. Last June. Okay, this one's the oldest. Best keep it first. He opens a tin of mackerel and digs into it with his fingers. Mmm. Mmm, revolting. No idea what people like this stuff in olden times. Turned your tongue red, something about the taste goes straight to your brain. Bet you think so? Don't ignore me, dude. You're all I have left. Who are you talking to? Whoever will pay attention? You don't respect us as individuals. Why should we pay attention to you? Who's talking to me now then? Anyone? You, Thumb? You're the biggest. Which Thumb? God, you guys, as soon as I gave you personalities, you started fighting. I'm so bored, I taught myself in trochism. Tragic. Impressive. How did you manage that? I said shut up! I gave myself an 85 for today. Would've been 90 if not for the biologist and those little bastards. God, I have to work harder at the ending. I'm always dragging them. But them, no matter what I say, they don't understand, so who cares? I was the only human being still alive. I'm the authority. I'm trying to dredge up deep memories and turn them into knowledge. Don't you think so? So. Don't you think so? So. So? So. Stop saying so! So. See how hard it is to connect with people? I can't even talk to myself. A conversation needs some sort of order as well as thought. In elementary school, I made a phone out of paper cups and string. The problem was, I couldn't run as fast as sound waves. I speak into one end, but the sound would be gone by the time I ran into the other. I tried putting one end to either ear. Hello? Hello? How are you? Fine, thanks. I didn't know what else to say. Like, some kind of psychologist test. Morning! How are you? Nice weather! Have a good day! You too. Going up? Yes, you too. Yes, 8th floor? Yes, thanks. Thanks, you're welcome. This guy sat right next to me at work for 9 or 10 years. And that was the crap we would say to each other in the elevator every morning. Never said a word in the office. He runs his bank around the tin and sucking up every drum of the grave. Tin food really is amazing. Do you know what's been around since 1810? Though the opener wasn't invented until 1858. Which means for 40 years you had to smash cans open by force. I wouldn't gravy splatter everywhere, but that's the best part. It looks like a funeral banner about the pyramid of Canada. Granny land, breasted peace. It's not like you could have eaten these anyway. Might as well let me have them. I'll give you rolling your blood brave. Because the cans remaining in the pyramid. How many days left? Can't be silent. When it's quiet, I... No. I won't crumble, I won't. If I give up, I've lost. They're out there waiting for you to give up. You can't. You can't. Let's start with... I used to hope this was a dream. But a few days passed. I still got hungry. Still get morning wood. It's touching, really. I can have a wank whenever I want. I used to be shy. Silly. But... now I do it whenever. But I feel sad after. There isn't anyone around to prove I'm a person. Am I certified in a subhuman world? Or is it invalid? I thought about leaving this place but I don't know how to swim. That's for how I got here in the first place I can't remember. In movies, shipwreck victims always know Morse code and how to rub two sticks for fire. I thought about ending it all. Just take the sharp edge of an open cannon. It's so easy to die. That thought scares me into going on living. After all, the entire hope of humanity rests on me surviving, doesn't it? I have to keep going until dinosaurs or aliens find me. I have to leave a record. Isn't that why there were cave paintings? When I was little, I wanted to be a guide. For one time, we went to the planetarium. Our guide was just out of college. When he said Pluto was no longer a planet, there was a catch to his voice. I said, Pluto sounded lonely. I wanted to be a spaceman so I could go visit Pluto. I got the tour guide's address and wrote him letters. He was like a big brother. Then he wrote, has your school switched to summer uniforms yet? Open bracket boys wore shorts at your school, don't they? Close brackets. If they do, please send me a photo. I had no idea what he meant. I didn't reply. Maybe if I had, I'd have become an astronaut. Watched from space as it got destroyed. Ended up on my own anyway. The man does it all. Then it starts all the way by ocean waves. No, no. I've seen Inception. I know what that means. White noise. It calms people down. That's a scientific fact. You get such a crystal-radar set. This is white noise. No batteries. This is a crystal radio. Google it. I can't. When I made this, I had some crazy idea at your news, but it's only been white noise. I'm not that disappointed. Maybe you need hope to be disappointed. This feels like a relic of civilization. Anyway, it calms me down. It don't use off. The radio crackles tonight. Do you repent? What did you say? Do you repent? Who are you? Do you repent? My God, a voice! A voice! Do you repent? Who are you? Are there other people there? Do you repent? Wait. This isn't a walkie-talkie. Do you repent? Do you repeat? Do you repent? Do you repent? I... I don't. I don't. I haven't done anything. All right. Sometimes in public toilets, if I leave a floater that won't flush, I just leave it. But only when I was in a hurry. Anyway, other people left piss stains. Do you repent? Why? Does someone need a kidney? Do you repent? The colleague I said good morning to been in the evening. The usual. Okay. Get some rest. Thanks. You too. I suddenly wanted to know about his private life. He sat at the next desk eight hours a day. I had no idea what he was like outside work. I followed him to a bar. How boring. A guy gets off work and goes to a bar. Lots of people slapped him on the shoulder and said, hello, like he was a regular. I thought I'd have a beer. Pretend I was there by coincidence. He was in the bathroom a long time. A few years later, I was about to give up and head home. And then I spotted her. Slim, long black hair, backless red dress, black high heels. Just the way I liked them. I offered her a drink. She didn't even pretend to refuse. She reached for the glass and my stomach flipped over. My colleague had a hairy mole on his right hand. I had noticed it every day when we pressed the elevator button. I sat next to that hand and here it was. A hairy mole. If you're going to dress up as a woman, wouldn't you cover up the hairy mole? He was too drunk to recognize me. This was the first time I was seeing his true self. The bartender kept looking at us. A few more drinks and he was reeling. He said he needed to go to the loo. I went with him. He stood there as he got his dick out. What? Haven't you seen one of these before? I shoved him into the cubicle. I want to make it clear. Nothing happened. I'm not interested in men. I just got carried away. So I got his panties off. Black legs, you know. His hands together. I took off my socks, stuffed one in his mouth and hung the other off his dick. Got my iPhone out and took a picture. I think it was pretty nice for me to cover his dick and crop out his face. It's my final jab. See you tomorrow. That's when he realized who I was. So I got to work extra early the next morning. Hung around outside but he never showed up. Went to my desk and there he was. He had come even earlier than me. I saw him tense up as I approached. I said, morning. Casual as anything. Shame not to bump into you in the elevator this morning. He muttered, yes, yes. I never said a word about the photo. Still, he wasn't doing well. One day he fainted during a meeting. We were told he couldn't cope with the city. Had an ulcer from the stress. He went back to his hometown. How could someone like him survive in a small village? He could be himself in the city but also had to worry about being found out. Was that more painful than going home and pretending he didn't want what he wanted? Anyway, I never saw him again. Will you repent? That's the worst thing I ever did in my life. At the end of the day it wasn't so terrible. I didn't threaten him. Didn't show him that picture. Didn't show that picture to anyone. It was just a prank. His nerves were too weak. Yes, I repent. Of course I repent. Otherwise I would have said all that. Say something. Is the signal gone? Please say something. Please. When I was little, my grandmother would have a TV like this. Come on. Do, do. Do you repent? Yes, keep asking. Do you repent? Women. I miss women. Lying between their spies made me happy as a tin mackerel. Shame I'll never see another woman. Shame I'll never see another woman. I had two wives divorce them both. They were called Candy and Mandy. No, that's not right. I forgot. I'd forgotten their names. Okay, let's call them 36B and 36D. What? That's how I remember people. 36B got pregnant three times with me. Lost them all. I was young and didn't like condoms. The first one was in our third year of college. It took three months for us to realize something was wrong. We pulled our wages from our part-time jobs and took it to the gynae. The doctor asked if she wanted to get rid of it like we'd done it a million times before. I felt massively guilty that everything I could to take care of her. The next time was just before graduation. Working backwards, I was sure I had a condom on, but they aren't 100%. I had military service and no job yet. We talked it over and she decided to get rid of it. After the Army, I worked for three years and saved up some money. It seemed like time. I proposed. I didn't feel overjoyed the way I expected. It was just sort of exhaustion. So it was time. I never cheated on her. All lovers become like husband and wife at the same time. One day, I got home from work and there was a trail of blood. I found her in the back and crying. She said, I lost a child. I looked down and the cord was this umbilical cord hanging out of her chunks of blood in a toilet bowl surrounded by red liquid. It was my poor child. I'm not proud of this. I vomited all over the floor. In the end, 36B phoned for the ambulance to come get both of us. She looked at me dolly as if she could see those three unfortunate children in me. Our relationship died along with them. Two years later, I met 38D. I can't remember how or how we split up. Do you resent? I could ever meet someone else. I'd love her so much. Poor children. Do you resent? I've told you everything. What do you want? I don't think you're a good person. I suppose you've never done anything legal. Maybe you run a red light or littering or kicking a stray dog. Maybe you saw a blind person and walked in circles and you just walked by. Got too much change on the corner store and just kept it. You know very well the counter staff have to make up the difference. You go to all sorts of protests just because your friends are going. Do you even know what they're arguing for? You have enough to eat and drink. Anyone who doesn't agree with you is trash. Even though you also say all human beings are worthy of respect. But deep down you know they're scum. You bring your own bags and you go shopping to save the planet. You don't smoke unless you've asked everyone in a 15-yard radius. You pay your taxes on time. Also your mortgage and your car payments. You get to work on time and don't complain if you get to work late. You donate money to African orphans at regular intervals. All in all not a good person and not a bad person. Just an ordinary person. Like me. Perfectly normal. But then why am I over myself? If someone could come anyone I'd love you with all the affection of all humanity. Do you repent? Haven't I repented enough? Who are you? Show yourself. If you have the balls, show yourself. Talk to my face. Hit me. Tell me what's wrong with me. Do you repent? Just a quick message. It might sing so much. I'm out of trash. Otherwise someone might cut themselves. I might cut myself. No tennis shots here. Somebody else shining over here. Another camp? A crystal? Oh. I could make another radio. Calming white noise. A cell phone! Never thought I'd see one of these. Now I can dial 911. I'll get rescued. And there's no 911 anymore. Please someone come from somewhere. Anyone at all? Leave me alone. Are we ready to start? Or are we waiting for people to come in? We can start. Hi. I'm Melissa Wong. I'm moderating a very short discussion of the panel today. I heard that we have 10 minutes. So first introducing the Playwright Wei Yu-Chia from Taiwan. Is this your first time in the U.S. or yes? Wei Yu-Chia is a very prolific player. I'm just trying to look for her to make sure that I have her information right here. So I'm not misrepresenting her. So Yu-Chia, you can see from your program Study Playwriting at Taiwan University's Drama Department. And she won an award for the play that we just heard. 2014 Taiwanese Literature Award Study Writing amongst other awards that you can read for yourselves in the book. And Jeremy Tiang is a translator, novelist, playwright, right? And he recently published his first novel, State of Emergency by Epigram books and he's translated many Chinese plays and novels and won many prestigious awards as well which you can read in the booklet. So I have because of the restrictions in time, I would like to ask a question that pertains to both Jeremy and Yu-Chia's work. Yu-Chia, when you heard the play in English does it give you any new insights of the way that you've thought about your own work before? And Jeremy, in terms of translating the play, are there some things that you found that wasn't as translatable as you like? Are there also new things that you think an English translation might have given to the play and the way we understand the play as an English audience? Hello. I should say sorry for my poor English so I will speak in Chinese and Jeremy will help me translate. The problem with Melissa is that my own feeling is that especially during the rehearsal when I heard the English I knew the new feeling is that in terms of cultural impact yesterday I talked to you and I felt that because of the background of many Taiwanese I didn't understand but later I found most of the feelings were still there so there was a certain amount of cultural clash Yutiao was very aware that the background of this play is very Taiwanese and she wasn't sure if the audience would be able to receive it but having seen the results she feels that most of it did come across and she's happy with it because of the translation and Well as Yutiao says it's a very Taiwanese play there are many elements of it that come out of that culture but at the same time themes such as climate change war, the end of the world and all humanity are pretty universal so I emphasised those and the more specific elements of it such as the black bear which is an animal native to Taiwan it's more that it's a bear that has become extinct and that's all you need to know similarly specific details such as at Taiwanese funerals you get tins of canned food piled canned food and that's what that pile is at the end and that's what he's eating to survive that might not have come across but I also don't think it matters as long as the the story is clear and I think it was hopefully Yeah so the play was at once absurd and farcical and funny and dark and pessimistic I'm just wondering also what the audience got out of the play perhaps just opening the floor for questions since we have a limited amount of time Any questions for the translator and the playwright? I wondered about the choice of characters that the author have chosen a duck and a panda and I wonder I may get the hint of a panda but the duck is if you can add light to that So there were a couple of current events that inspired this the year the play was written the pandas in Taiwan had a baby cub and that caused a great stir and everyone came to see the panda cub and the same year the giant rubber duck it was an art installation was going around the world and came to Taiwan and that caused a lot of media interest so the Taiwanese audience would have got that this was what was being referred to Any other questions for the playwright? I was just really interested between the relationship between the animals and kind of like their commodified representations in the human world especially with the duck I'm thinking of how there was there's the duck itself and then there's the rubber duck and the ring of the kind of inflatable float so I just wanted to kind of probe into that relationship between objects and like animals and their representation in the human world because for me that was very rich so there are no real animals in the play they're all symbols and in this case they represent things that human beings pursue but of course she's anthropologized them so that they gain emotions of their own such as the desire to find a place to call home so that they gain emotions of their own such as the desire to find a place to call home Hi, I just want to often know that I really enjoy the play I don't know if I'm mistaken but is a polar bear not in Alaska and does she know that? Is that done intentionally? I don't think polar bears are in Alaska right? So it's a joke No, I just want to make All things in the play is not true No, no, I understand I don't know if there was by choice that they have nowhere to go but to go to Alaska She knows that She just wanted to think of a very remote place and then the idea that the polar bear would go there Any final questions for the playwright Yes Both of you, what your reactions of the audience's reactions were there moments that played differently or were the audience reacted differently to how you envisaged or moments that came across really differently in the English translation as opposed to the original you could reflect on the process I felt very sad I felt very good I didn't feel good because I didn't feel that I couldn't return the money So the audience today responded about the same as the Taiwanese audience which was some people were very amused and some people were very sad and some people were sad in the midst of their amusement but each of you are as happy as all of these reactions the worst thing would be if there was no reaction at all even if you didn't feel anything she isn't able to give you a refund Thank you so much to the playwright and to the translator Jeremy and Lucia Thank you so much for coming Wait, have you I'm waiting Melissa, nice to meet you Melissa, nice to meet you I think so I think so I'm glad to see you Oh my gosh, you look so hot I don't know I'm just going to dance She's Singaporean Oh, look at your Oh, hello I'm a Taiwanese playwright Well, not just a writer Wait, what's your name? Oh, yes, yes Jeremy has a question Who is he?