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Through the use of blacklight, a walk-through experience at Gateway Theatre will illuminate the story of Lunar New Year.

Photo by Sarah Race

Lunar New Year brought to life

By Hannah Scott, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

Published 1:53 PST, Thu February 10, 2022

Last Updated: 2:38 PST, Thu February 10, 2022

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The story of Lunar New Year and the sea monster Nian will be brought to life by Gateway Theatre’s upcoming immersive experience Into the Light.

The walk-through show, which is on from Feb. 18 to 20, is the brainchild of artists Stephanie Wong and Marina Szijarto. It was originally scheduled for 2021 but had to be postponed.

“Something I brought to the table growing up in Hong Kong was my memory of childhood, arriving to school with our lanterns and being excited to share these cool new lanterns that would sing or light up in different ways,” says Wong. “In the morning, the parents would come to school and we’d all climb the mountain together—there was this procession of light.”

That image of light and nature resonated with Wong, and she and Szijarto had already been exploring the idea of a walk-through experience. They had initially planned to present the show outdoors in Minoru Park, but through the use of blacklight, they created an immersive indoor space that brings “theatre magic” to audiences in a different format.

“The experience is to immerse you into each aspect of the story and play with scope and scale,” says Wong. “We want you to feel large and overlooking, to interact with different moments and different viewpoints.”

The focal point is on Nian, the monster who emerged annually to terrorize villages and was eventually scared away by the villagers with the use of light, colour, and sound. Wong says while the specific story differs regionally, the version she heard growing up in Hong Kong had Nian living at the bottom of the ocean.

“In some ways the audience is part of the story. They’re watching, they’re being immersed into the landscape of Nian, who’s under the sea. When they come out of the black box, they emerge from the story (and) are now in the village, (having) experienced what the villagers experienced,” says Szijarto.

By reflecting off props and objects, which are painted with special paint, the blacklight also acts as a kind of inverse lantern—the light comes from the outside of the objects, not the inside. Props include recycled materials like driftwood as well as cardboard houses that Szijarto describes as “low-tech.”

“There’s a tendency in theatre of having big projections and expensive ways of doing things. In some ways we were gifted with a smaller budget and had to come to this with more of a creative mindset: how do we make something that’s still got this theatre magic and sparks an imaginative response and yet can be low-tech and feel sort of handmade, with materials that people might recognize?” says Szijarto.

At the end of the exhibit, audiences are invited to make a lantern and leave their new year’s wishes at a shrine. Wong and Szijarto are aiming to help bring about a sense of hope after the darkness of the last couple of years.

“The premise of the piece is we’ve been in darkness, we’re coming out into a new year, a new light, and we are celebrating that. So what can we bring into the new year that’s our offering to our communities or to the planet?” says Szijarto.

Into the Light is primarily a contactless experience with a timed entry system that restricts the number of people inside. A limited number of tickets per time slot are available. Those aged 12 and over must show proof of full vaccination and photo ID. Masks must be worn all times unless patrons are under age five or have a physical or medical condition that prevents them from wearing a mask.

Into the Light is sponsored by Kwantlen Polytechnic University. For more information or to buy tickets, go to gatewaytheatre.com/into-the-light