Celebrated opera singer, thespian, dancer and occasional star of the silver screen, Wu Hsing-kuo (吳興國) and his renowned Contemporary Legend Theater (CLT, 當代傳奇劇場) make a welcome return to the stage this weekend when they bring their visually stunning Chinese/Western crossover production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot to Taipei's Metropolitan Hall.
Considered by many to be one of the most influential texts of 20th-century theater, Beckett's Waiting for Godot premiered in 1953, but has only been performed in its entirety once in Taiwan, when Stan Lai's (
Since its founding in 1985, the CLT has become one of the most influential and respected modern opera troupes in Asia. Its ability to blend standard classical Beijing opera with Western theater has enabled the troupe to breathe new life into numerous productions.
Its breathtaking avant-garde productions have proven popular both at home and abroad, with works like the Greek tragedies Medea and Oresteia and Shakespearean melodramas Hamlet, Macbeth and The Tempest winning critical acclaim from as far afield as London and Hong Kong.
In order to add a sense of awe to his numerous theatrical creations Wu has often teamed up with acclaimed Hong Kong movie director Tsui Hark (
Beckett's play tells of two vagrants -- Estragon and Vladimir -- who are waiting for someone called Godot to arrive. Godot never does arrive, however, but while passing the time waiting for the mysterious character the two bums act out several of the fundamental mysteries of man's existence and in turn beg the question, "What are we doing here?"
Unlike the CLT's pervious productions, which Wu used artistic license to change and toy with in order that they incorporate elements of classical Chinese opera, he was forced to follow the script almost to the letter for his re-working of Godot.
"The [Beckett] estate requires that all official productions be absolutely faithful and imposes strict and unbending rules ... it's specified in the contract [that] music of any form is strictly forbidden," said Wu. "I was confronted with a grave challenge. If no music is allowed then how can [the CLT] remain distinct from other troupes [who perform] spoken drama?"
To get around the strict guidelines Wu rendered the play into a language more familiar to fans of Chinese opera rather then staged dramas. And for the first time Wu chose to incorporate poetry into his production in order to act as a bridge between monologues, to conclude scenes and to call attention to what Wu considers to be Beckett's "obscurity."
"The original script is full of disconnected, absurd dialogues. One action is succeeded by the next and the play rapidly moves onto another line, another facial expression and another body movement," Wu said. "These dramatic elements all seem related but the precise relations between them are not clear. [To pull this off] was a difficult test for the Contemporary Legend Theater."
Along with the addition of poetry Wu has also managed to employ elements of Chinese opera into the production. Although not quite in line with the wishes of the Beckett estate, thanks to the assistance of Lai (who has the rights to the official Chinese-language translation of the play), Wu has been able integrate basic percussive rhythms, Beijing dialect and operatic rhymed speech in to the performance. Performance notes:
RSS