Purple Action | Who Dares to Put Theater in a Boxing Ring?

A host with a stand-up comic's cadence shouts into a megaphone. It sounds like an audition show on one of the major streaming platforms.

"Next

Let's vote for contestant No. 3!

Vote!"

A host with a stand-up comic's cadence shouts into a megaphone. It sounds like an audition show on one of the major streaming platforms.

Yes and no.

Purple Action | Who Dares to Put Theater in a Boxing Ring?

"Yes," because this performance really does ask the audience to vote for one person. Six contestants enter the arena and unfold their lives in different ways; the audience decides who remains at the end.

"No," because this is improvised theatre. The audience can intervene throughout, and its votes determine how the performance develops.

This is an era of crazy comparisons, comparing GDP, pollution index, trending searches, disaster relief donations, and Sesame Credit scores. People also have to compare with each other, just to distinguish themselves. In order to maximize the effect of the duel, we teamed up with 24KiCK, a famous boxing gym in Beijing.

This is

the first time in human history that theatre has been placed inside a real boxing ring.

The entire performance takes place in the ring. Beauty, misfortune, ruthlessness, argument, patriotism, and values-anything that can be compared will be compared. Physical combat is not ruled out either: the equipment is already there.

6 fighters, 4 hours, 1 winner

For this performance, we "captured" six people with a fierce desire to express themselves and lives rich in experience.

The girl with a sunny face will tell you what it was like in the small town where she grew up, where every man in the family beats a woman.

A Beijing subway driver who curses as if he wants to take on the whole world-and has Dostoevsky's face tattooed on his calf-may tell you what he thinks about the Xi'an Metro incident.

A cynical self-described bad girl may tell you how an open relationship-the kind everyone discusses but few dare to practise-pulled her back into the abyss again and again.

There is also a drama director, preschool teacher, and "the girl next door" who will burst into tears every time she hears the national anthem.

We even found a madman from two hundred years in the future. He will tell you how he was born from a test tube, at a time when the Statue of Liberty was still standing.

As for the sixth one, we still don't know what she has. We only know that her hair is green, as if she has a hat branded on her head.

Perform! Vote! Drink!

Perform

Whatever professions the six contestants have, whatever social class they come from, and however much money they possess, none of it counts here. Their only task tonight is to win over the audience. Their fate is in your hands.

Let me reveal a little bit here first.

There is a second-generation demolition here. He must have divided a lot of property. You can ask him to tell you about it. There is a person who can sing Miao folk songs. You can escape into the empty mountain by closing your eyes and listening to her singing. You can nod. There is a girl who is extremely confident in her appearance. It is said that she is good at it. She can get whatever she wants by taking advantage of a man's little tricks. Think about what you can get from her; for the man who claims to be from 200 years ago, all of this is history to him. If you want to know how prosperous our motherland will be in the future, you can also ask about it.

As for what else you want to ask, as long as you dare to ask, they must answer.

A friendly warning: cameras will record the entire event, and the audience will become part of the performance. Let yourself go.

Vote

Each guest begins with ten glass marbles-the kind many people played with as children-to use as ballots. Votes are counted by weight. The totals remain hidden during the contest and are revealed only when the host announces each result.

During the four hours from the opening to the end, gentlemen can vote in the buckets corresponding to the six fighters at any time. Starting from the second hour, the fighter with the lowest pinball weight will be "executed" every half hour (2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4 hours).

More than two thousand marbles will circulate during the event. Guests may buy extra marbles to support a contestant, with no upper limit. The more you spend, the more voting power you hold.

Drink

As the saying goes, alcohol lends courage. Even among tonight's guests, some may need to become a little tipsy before casting a precious vote and saying what they really think. Tonight is your chance to drink and pass judgement on other human lives.

If you want a drink, cast a vote. If you dare to vote, we dare to pour. The more boldly you vote, the more boldly we pour.

The event is supported by Zebra Craft Beer, with eighty complimentary bottles. Depending on the voting round, buying a set number of marbles may earn you a beer. After the complimentary bottles are gone, each beer purchase comes with ten additional marbles. Drink, vote; vote, drink.

A word from our sponsor: zebras are gentle by nature but cannot be domesticated. That love of freedom is the attitude Zebra Craft Beer carries into its brewing under the motto "Respect the wild; reject mediocrity."

A Duel of Lives

"Every life is worth living." What a beautiful sentence, but it may also be a comfort to one's own powerlessness. Are you really willing? When you talk about what you think is different, do they really agree?

You look back at your family of origin. After you broke through the many shackles and regained your freedom, you were harshly criticized for being unfilial. You passed all the exams and came from the mountains to the big city, but you were criticized for being too competitive. You became a good wife and a good mother, perfect in everyone's eyes, but you only know what you have lost. You think you are a natural artist, able to write music and poetry, but you are helplessly jealous and no one appreciates your talents, so you can only sit in a cubicle.

What about when you look at other people? You want to denounce the hard work of the courier delivery people, you want to participate in the 99 Charity Day competition, you want to fight back against the harshness of your boss, you have memorized the social discipline theory, and you have a sense of justice in your chest. It seems that except for the great men who have shaken ancient and modern times and shaped history, everyone is a small screw in the vast world of sentient beings.

In the end, you silently swallowed your ordinary greatness and said

"We are all insignificant; everyone is the same."

No, it's not the same.

It is true that some lives are not worth living, and it is true that some lives deserve applause.

But the answer is not the advertising cliché of 'ordinary greatness.' That is utter bullshit.

But, what kind of life is worth living? What kind of life can get your sincere applause? What kind of life can win votes? And after all, what kind of life would you defend to the death even if you lose everything?

Come on!

this night

Let us raise our glasses 🍺 and our marbles 🔮

Drink until the night is done

Judge as you please