My mother got us tickets to go see it for my birthday a few years ago. She was convinced that it was similar to a show she saw while visiting China. The people on stage are talented and it would actually be quite a thing to watch if it wasn't so stuffed full of bullshit.

It started out alright depicting the creation of the world and some other somewhat standard things from folklore, or at least as an American that has decent exposure to Japanese culture, but not much to Chinese. Then things started going off the rails with a piece with a bunch of people wearing the communist hammer and sickle arm bands going around and beating people up. They had some point when they started telling us about how their religion was founded by this dude not too long ago and that they're being oppressed by the evil communists. Only thing I really saw was a cult trying to prove its legitimacy and propagandizing that China is evil. But listening to people discuss the show at the intermission, they were buying it completely. It continued on gettin gmore and more open with just how evil China is and that they're just these innocent people that are being oppressed. If the tickets hadn't been so expensive I would've insisted on leaving early. All I got that day was good intentions turning into a frustrating drive into a packed city, and a headache from getting so angry at the blatant propaganda.

I almost went to see Shen Yun a couple years ago. I thought it was just a play based on Chinese folklore.