78
problems were blamed no longer on the Cultural Revolution activists and the Gang of Four, but also on those presently in power and those in power before the Cultural Revolution." With the emergence of **exposure literature**, artists and writers began to experiment with new forms. Wang Meng, for example, writing less on political issues and more on the emotions and relationships of everyday life, experimented with a variety of styles, including stream of consciousness. His short story, The Butterfly, in which he successfully used the technique of stream of consciousness, won him national recognition.
The If I Were Real episode turned out, however, rather differently. In terms of interaction between political developments and those of art and literature in the post-Mao era, probably no other single instance can provide as much insight as the play If I Were Real does. By comparing it with Wang Meng's experiments and with a later case, the Bitter Love episode, conclusions about how much artists and writers could push politically and artistically can be better tested.
If I Were Real was initially a play script depicting a young man who deceives officials in Shanghai, by pretending to be the son of a high military officer in Beijing. Because of his supposed good connections, the young man is granted all kinds of privileges, from theatre tickets to having a “friend”, who was actually himself transferred from a farm to Shanghai. When he is finally caught, he protests that he has done nothing wrong. He explains: “If I were really the son of some high party official, then whatever I have done would be considered legal." Thus the playscript went beyond criticism of the Gang of Four to criticize the current system.
1920
As for the form, the experimental side of If I Were Real was shown in its actual staging. Audiences participated in the whole process at the beginning of the play. Pre-planned, the play begins later than the set time. When the audience grows impatient and asks why it has not started, one actress would appear in the name of the theatre manager to tell them that they cannot begin until some important “officials" arrive. Then the audience would grow even more impatient and protest against the inequality of treatment. Then those "officials" would appear, among them is the "son", and soon some "policemen" follow up to arrest him and explain the story to the audience. Of course, all of the people involved are performers.