Produced by Muddy Lolos, Echoes of Nüwa: The Last Human Project explores the possibility of creating a perfect, peaceful human society, reflecting on social systems, human emotions, and violence.
Nüwa asks her three minions—the Muddy Lolos—to create a beautiful and prosperous human society. Based on their boss’s request, they add no emotions to the mud people except politeness. Surprisingly, this version of humanity faces the risk of starvation due to excessive politeness. Therefore, the Muddy Lolos give the clay figures desires, causing them to pursue everything of high value rather than what is suitable. They are somewhat disappointed and add further traits, such as anger and hope. These complex human traits give rise to war and violence. Ultimately, the Muddy Lolos destroy the clay figures’ world to prevent further chaos.
Three Muddy Lolos, played by Chia-Yi Chan, Jinyu Dan, and Qianyi Wang, are clever and hilarious. Despite having only three actors, they manage to depict the everyday life of a whole society through their captivating body language.
The sudden rap is the biggest surprise in Echoes of Nüwa: The Last Human Project, leading the entire audience to sway in rhythm. They also employ repetition of words, one of the key techniques of comedy, to vividly convey the absurdity of the mud people society.
This story is based on an imagined scenario of human societal development, but the creators’ imagination is limited. By adding desire, anger, and hope to the mud figures, they would develop a monarchy rather than other types of societies. Muddy Lolos ultimately do not believe they can create a true democratic society. Given the limited time, not presenting the complexities of social systems is a reasonable choice. However, the direct and broad depiction of the mud people’s social landscape also limits the production’s potential for deeper reflection and criticism of social issues.
Despite its lack of reflection, the actors’ remarkable performances compensate for any shortcomings, delivering an absolutely passionate and engaging performance.
Echoes of Nüwa: The Last Human Project presents a hilarious social experiment full of surprises.
