Fanshen - a troubled lesson in revolution The subject of revolution is one that lends itself to drama. That is especially so because. by its own nature revolution extends far beyond the construction of a new economic base and corresponding social institutions into the realm of the personal and individual. A study of one particular revolution, the Chinese revolution of 1946 - 1949, and the impact of social upheaval not only on social structure but on the culture and: personal attitudes of the people is the theme of Vancouver’s latest political drama Fanshen, currently showing at the Van- couver East Cultural Centre. Staged by the hard working Tamahnous Theatre workshop, Fanshen’s cast of nine takes its audience, simplistically but un- derstandably, through three years of revolution in the Chinese peasant village of Long Bow. For whatever shortcomings the production suffers of in relating these turbulent years, there could be no doubt that both the play and Tamahnous are sincere supporters of the Chinese revolution. And in spite of a political naivete about the making of a revolution it must also be said that Fanshen makes an honest attempt to portray revolution as being human and closely tied to the daily needs of ordinary people. Tamahnous set themselves a difficult task in blending character roles with documentary. The result in Fanshen is that it falls somewhere in the middle. The character development of the key personages in the play proved to be insufficient to carry the political lessons that Fanshen projects so documentary was added — in the form of political speeches and in some narration. The strong points of the play, both artistically and politically, are found in the ex- changes between the characters as they make their way through revolution. The documentary, while to aé_ certain extent necessary, at times sounds better suited to a podium or a Marxist classroom than the stage. A narration as the play opens offers some insight into what follows. ‘‘Fanshen,”’ it explained, means literally to ‘‘turn the body” or “‘to turn over.”’ As the revolution progressed “‘fanshen’’ became an important word in the Chinese vocabulary. It meant to turn over living conditions, to pass from one standard of living to a higher one. For the Chinese peasant, living conditions were determined by the land and agriculture. Land reform was therefore basic to fanshen. How this was done in Long Bow is what the play is all about. It opens in 1946 with the oc- cupying Japanese in retreat. Parts of the country was controlled by the nationalist forces, other sec- tions by the Communist Eighth Route Army. Long Bow was on the edge. For the oppressed peasantry it was a ‘‘crack in history one inch wide.”’ Almost spontaneously a peasants’ association is formed which begins the process of ‘settling accounts,” first of all with the collaborators during the occupation and then with the landlords. The collaborators’ find easy deaths in execution but the newly formed people’s courts are less merciful with the landlords. Of the seven landlords of Long Bow, three were beaten to death, three more starved and the remaining one escaped. Spontaneity is soon removed with the establishment of Com- munist Party. organization in the village, at first secret. A quick march -through years finds* Long Bow a part of the liberated zone and under the leadership of the Communists the ‘‘Draft Agrarian Law” is introduced. From this point on the story of Long Bow is ' the story of the twists and turns ‘and criticism and self criticism of the Party in carrying out the land reform program. 7 Hearing of abuses and excesses in the area, the head office sends a work team to Long Bow. Upon their arrival the team members suspend the Party leadership and announce their intention ‘‘to root out commandism,. opportunism and heathenism.’”’ A_ heated campaign of public criticism and self criticism sessions are un- dertaken to “‘purity the party.”’ But within a few scenes the work team itself is subjected to criticism for its errors of left extremism. Documentary dominates the final scenes as the political theory of the land reform ‘program ‘is explained at length to the work team by Party officials. Even references to Marx, Engels, Lenin and Stalin are used to show the work team the errors in their approach. But while egalitarianism is refuted as a form of left extremism, the focus is placed on the soul searching of the work team itself as it attempts to correct its inner methods of work. Itis here with the constant stress laid: on the “purifieation’’ of the individual, that Fanshen makes it’s political error. To build a peasant organization it was first necessary to exhort the people to cast off their old ways. And then in order to change their material lives it was necessary first to purify the party. In order for that to be possible individual Party members: had first to undergo considerable introspection. What emerges from Fanshen is a clear message, whether deliberate or not, that self-liberation is primary to political action. It is not a matter of denying the importance of criticism and self- criticism- to communist organization. The problem with Fanshen is _ it’s lack of un- derstanding, or failure to convey, the fact that it is the changing material conditions of life upon which the new social man is based, and not, as Fanshen would have it, the reverse. There are some effective scenes however, which to some extent make up for shortcomings. The good scenes are made ex- ceptionally good by the obvious abilities of Tamahnous. Those who thought that Fanshen was only a book by William Hinton will find it interesting to see what David Hare has done for the stage. It’s directed by Jeremy Long and Barbara Williams and will con- tinue until December 6. — Fred Wilson now on stage at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. A scene from Tamahnous Theatre Workshop's production of Fanshen, | Tougher Cont'd from pg. 1 really need to cover their in- creased costs.” The Runge report is extremely critical of present rent control legislation. ‘‘Enforcement,”’ it states, “is dependent on the ‘goodwill’ of landlords and the willingness and ability of tenants to deduct illegal overcharges .. .” The Rent Review Commission it says has had its powers ‘‘narrowly circumscribed, ,and the Com- mission in turn has viewed its enforcement role quite “cautiously.” The result of ‘self regulation”’ was found in the study’s housing survey which showed ‘‘that one thirdof all the rent increases in the province were illegal and nearly all of these were greater than 10.6 per cent.” According to the report there are four basic areas in which the en- forcement of the law breaks down. The first of these is a ‘ack of access to rent information.’ It points out that there is no list covering rents and anniversary dates, excepting for those units which have had_ rent increases since January 1975. But even this it says, “is essentially voluntary; rent controls and there is no systematic procedure for giving tenants ac- ‘ cess to the information it contains. Thus the chances of finding out the information required from official sources are slim indeed.” The study teams survey showed that only 10 per cent knew when their rent could be increased. “This problem is compounded,”’ the report continues, ‘‘by the unlikelihood that an existing tenant will dispute a questionable rent increase for the unit if he is preparing to move out. Thus it is relatively easy for an owner to establish an illegal rent in a tur- nover situation.’’- Fear of retaliation is cited as a second major problem with present rent controls. study team reperted ‘‘numerous instances where tenants refusing .to pay illegal over-charges were indeed harrassed, with eviction threats, utility shut-offs, refusal to accept rent payments and physical reprisals. The present system of reliance on tenant initiative for enforcement (of the law) discriminates against those in the greatest need of protection. Under the present system the overall The stack of books at left had to be replenished several times last Friday night as well over a hundred people came through the Co-op Bookstore to get autographed copies of Harry Rankin’s recently-published autobiography, Rankin’s Law. Here Beth Chobotuck gets her copy signed. PACIFIC TRIBUNE—NOVEMBER 28, 1975—Page 10 —Sean Griffin photo Runge’s - ‘present delivery mechanism via effect of lack of tenant initiative iS” to drive up rents beyond the pel | missable limit.’’ _ The third area of controls that the report urges strengthened iS” prosecution under the law. “TO date, no prosecutions have beel undertaken,” it states, ‘In effect | the most serious reprisal and : owner can anticipate is an order 10 refund the illegal overcharge, or {0 cease retaliation. Thus the cost of non-compliance or evasion 15 virtually minimal.” e The fourth area for improvement | is the role of the Rent Review Commission itself in enforcing thé | law. ‘Although six inquiry officer | have now been appointed,” it say5: | “in general the lack of a visible, aggressive enforcement capacity has conveyed a public impressi0? of agency inaction.”’ : A comprehensive study o housing production accompanied the report’s analysis of rent col | trol. It found that an additional” 46,000 units are required every | year for the next five years t0 house B.C.’s growing population: | The report recommended that “the” provincial government assume | responsibility for the production of : housing by assuring that sufficient housing of the types required built wh re needed.” The highlights to the report summed UP the recommendation that ‘thé provincial government expand its the Dunhill Development Cor poration to be in a position to at least supply half the annual | production needs over the next fiv® | ‘years. This will mean tripling the | present capacity to delive! housing.” The last section of the report | deals with the affordability of housing in B.C. It points out thal : half of the renters in B.C. spend | over 25 per cent of their income 0 rents and for the elderly 80 per ceM™ | of those renting spent more than 25 per cent of their income on rent. * also. showed that all low incom people who earn less than $3,00 | per year paid more than 45 per ceB of their income on housing. Of th® | 149,000 homes in B.C. which pay more than 25 per cent of income fo! housing, 40,000 are homes of th€ elderly. The recommendation % the report to deal with th® “unaffordability” of housing is © institute a “Guaranteed Shelte! ‘ Supplement’’ that would available to all lower incom® people paying more than 25 per cent of their income on rent. a