Working with the young performers and techies of Williston Northampton on the Wondrous Tales of Old Japan was a great experience. One of the students I’m particularly grateful to have worked with is Yuwei Cao. I met her as she worked in Williston’s costume shop under the direction of Ilene Goldstein, designer of our show’s amazing costumes. Our director, Charles Raffetto, invited her to paint projections, and I was blown away by her beautiful work. Susanna White, an art teacher at Williston, created a display in the theater’s lobby with Yuwei’s original paintings, as well as a pair of spectacular large-scale surreal works on paper.

Asked to comment on her work for the show, Yuwei wrote:

“I believe that magic always happens in the theatre. I found a lot of surprises, working with this play and the fabulous tech people involved. I think the scenery and the costumes are the muscles of the play’s heart, which beat and bring incredible fresh blood to the play. Most of my background paintings were done with water color. I consider it one of the hardest media to control, and one of the most interesting, because there is so much unknown.”

Yuwei is a 15-year-old from Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. Wisely, she is developing her academic and artistic pursuits at the same time, and hopes to become a banker in the future.