From Australia to the Palace of Art in China

By Liu Dongli

乔佩妮　Pene Quarry

In the Spring Festival of 2018, Han Show Theater,located on the lush shores of the East Lake, the biggest urban lake in China, attracted the most tourists, who were comprised of Chinese and foreign nationals.It is a world-class theater that accommodates an audience of thousands. In the past four years,it was Pene Quarry, a beautiful stage artist from Australia, who imbued the theater with energy and excitement.

It is her profound artistic talent, wealth of experience and heartfelt devotion to stage performance that has enabled her to shine as brightly as the spotlight that brings her craft to the world from atop this stage in the past four years.

When she graduated from the Sidney National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1991, Pene took on a migratory life for her artistic career, touring around and leaving her footprints in almost all the famous art centers in Australia. She rose to fame step by step, and eventually joined the team for the opening and closing ceremonies of Sydney Olympic Games as a stage manager. After that, Pene decided to challenge herself on a bigger stage, so she took her art all worldwide, to places like Germany, Switzerland,Monaco, New Zealand, Korea,Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong, where she was the organizer and designer for a number of grand performances.In the winter of 2008, Pene came to China with the troupe of Cats(the famous Broadway musical)on its world tour, which was the first time she had ever been to Wuhan. The downy white snow that blanketed the city that year is still as fresh in her mind as the day it fell. Six years later, Wuhan Wanda Dragon Entertainment Company extended an invitation to her. After reading the proposal from Dragon, Pene felt it was the ideal place to live her dream, so she gladly accepted the invitation.

汉秀剧照　A performance at Han Show Theater

In Pene’s own words, she was born for the stage, which is the only place she holds dear. The more exciting and challenging the performance is, the more exciting she will grow. Usually, as soon as she arrives at her office, she drops her bag in her office and spends hours on end in the auditorium.She always orders delivery, as she has no time for a proper meal.Besides, she lives far from her workplace, so it takes her a long time to go to work, and from time to time, she leaves home before dawn and returns after dark. Even so, Pene is always energetic at work, and she seldom takes a nap during the day.

2018年春节，中国最大城中湖——武汉东湖之滨，有一个地方最热闹。这个地方叫汉秀剧场，一个世界级水平的大秀场，可以容纳几千人。四年来，让这个秀场精彩不断的是乔佩妮，一个典型的澳大利亚美女舞台艺术家。

乔佩妮能步入这个世界级的舞台，而且一站就是四年。这与她深厚的艺术功底、丰富的经验和阅历以及对艺术的全身心投入是分不开的。

1991年从澳大利亚悉尼国家戏剧艺术学院毕业后，乔佩尼就开始了走南闯北的艺术生涯，该国知名的艺术场所几乎都留下她的身影。她一步步成名，并最终加入悉尼奥运会开幕式和闭幕式的设计团队，并参与指挥排练。悉尼奥运会后，乔佩妮决定寻找更大的艺术舞台，挑战自我，先后去了德国、瑞士、摩纳哥、新西兰、韩国、日本、泰国、新加坡、中国香港等地，组织和策划多项重大演出。2008年冬天，乔佩妮随着百老汇音乐剧《猫》来中国巡演期间，第一次来到武汉，一场大雪让她至今记忆犹新。时隔6年，武汉万达德贡演艺公司向她伸出橄榄枝。乔佩妮看过德贡的策划书后，感到自己找到理想的去处，当即答应下来。

用乔佩妮自己的话说，她是为舞台而生的人。她喜欢舞台，而且越刺激越有挑战性的舞台，她就越兴奋。常常一上班，她把包往办公室一扔就到演艺厅泡着，时常一泡就是十多个小时，连饭都不好好吃，除了外卖还是外卖。住地离工作地之间很远，乔佩妮上班要花很长时间，有时离家天还没亮，归来已是披星戴月。即便这样，乔佩妮总是激情饱满地工作，很少看到她疲劳地歪在一旁打个盹儿。

A glimpse of Han Street where Han Show Theater is located　汉街一角

能力、热情加上执着是一个人成就事业的要素。对乔佩妮来说，看到自己的创意给人们带来快乐，听到人们对自己节目的喝彩，无疑增加了乔佩妮的价值认同和存在感。她说：“汉秀让我爱上武汉，这里使我有家的感觉，感到很安定，就想在这里待下去。”

乔佩妮对武汉越来越有认同感，她开始学武汉话，学得还很像，很认真。她像武汉人一样，一直喜欢吃热干面。她每天关心武汉的变化，觉得“武汉，每天不一样”名如其实：“武汉变化太快，地铁8号线似乎眨眼之间就修好了。”

从观众数、热情度和评论等方面，乔佩妮更感觉到，武汉人的艺术素养在不断提高，她说，人们走出家庭，离开电视，到艺术舞台跟前来，不只是生活水平的提高，更体现着人们对艺术欣赏的需要。

乔佩妮是热爱生活、用心生活的人，除了健康的作息方式，她一有时间就走到大自然中，带上相机，拍拍柳芽初放、小草萌绿，在湖光山色间陶冶心情，从大自然中寻找灵感和快乐。今年是乔佩妮的本命年，她喜欢中国春节的喜庆，把自己的办公室布置得喜气洋洋。她还给每个员工发了红包，和大家一起祈福新年。◆

Power, passion and persistence are the core elements for success.In Pene’s eyes, it definitely gives her a stronger sense of self-esteem to see that her innovative ideas have brought joy and smiles to the audience, who shows her a lot of love at the end of each show. “I love Wuhan because of the Han Show. This city makes me feel at home. I am comfortable living here, and I want to stay here for as long as possible.”

Pene gradually adapts to her life in Wuhan. She has made efforts in learning the Wuhan dialect, and it turned out that she has learned it pretty well. Like the Wuhan locals, Pene loves eating hot-dry noodles. She also cares about the daily changes taking place in Wuhan, and she agrees with the city slogan—“Wuhan,Different Everyday!” “Wuhan is changing so fast. It seems that the construction of Metro Line 8 has been completed overnight,” Pene remarked.

汉秀团队(后排居中者为乔佩妮) Group photo of Han Show staff (Pene Quarry is the one in the middle of the back row)

In terms of audience attendance, enthusiasm and commentary, Pene feels that Wuhan’s citizens have a greater and greater appreciation for art, and notes that people today tend to leave home and watch a performance in the theater, which not only indicates an improved living standard, but also people’s love and pursuit of art.

Pene loves life and makes each day count. Apart from living a healthy lifestyle, she gets close to nature whenever she is free.She likes to carry a camera to photograph the sprouting of the willows and the green grass, relax herself in a landscape of lakes and mountains, and find inspiration and joy in nature. This is the year of Pene’s birth sign in the Chinese zodiac, quite auspicious,as she was also born in the year of the dog. Out of her love for the joyous Chinese Spring Festival,she reveled in the ambiance of the festival by decorating her office with celebratory ornaments just like the locals, and she also sent out red envelopes to her colleagues and made new year wishes to all.◆

(Translation: Zhu Yaguang)