A Flexitarian is the new work launched by Jiang Fan and Zhuang Jiayun (The Three Bowls Co-op) in 2022, having had its premiere at the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) Special Youth Theatre Showcase at Shanghai’s YOUNG Theatre that December. Presented as semi-autobiography, the production intertwines the physical with the verbal, the performative with the documentary, creating a distinctive style of monologue theatre. In 2023, the play dove deeper into themes of womanhood and gender, maintaining its focus on the interplay between body and language. Staged at the Shanghai International Dance Center Experimental Theatre (Dance Out of the Box, China Contemporary Dance Biennale) and the Black Box Theater at Nanjing University, it garnered critical acclaim.

A Flexitarian tells the story of Hu Douzi, a lonely soul living in Shanghai who, at a special juncture of material independence and emotional desolation brought on by divorce, tries to find a fresh, diverse and previously unattained spiritual liberation. Both protagonist and narrator, she constantly traverses different media and times. Among the many female characters her reflections and memories evoke are women who must face and even internalise transaction of interests in various domains, who as “middle-aged women” must constantly overcome social prejudice and self-doubt, and who wrestle with the intricate balance of freedom, responsibility, family and friendship. While truth and humour permeate A Flexitarian, the work’s backbone is a low-pitched growl against the mundane, the aging process, emotional PTSD and the various challenges women face.