Since debuting in late 2012 with productions of The Tragedy of Anthony and Cleopatra and Pericles, Shanghai Shakespeare has produced Mandarin adaptations of classic English plays. Organized by experienced Hollywood actor and drama director Thomas Caron, their next endeavor is Three Short Plays by Samuel Beckett.
What inspired you to do Shakespeare in Chinese?
I’ve seen Shakespeare plays here in Chinese with old-timers. Though there was much to admire, the style is very 18th century. There are groups doing Shakespeare, but they’re not always dedicated to doing them in Chinese. So I came to China ten years ago with the intention of setting up Chinese Shakespearean theater. It would’ve been presumptuous to immediately jump at it, so I waited for the right time.
Samuel Beckett differs from Shakespeare greatly. Why the change?
We still do Shakespeare, that’s for sure. But Shakespeare is going to stay in this city with or without me. I’ve always had great admiration for Samuel Beckett and his plays are really difficult to do. So whenever there is a chance, I will do it. We are doing what a true repertory theater does, a tradition which does not exist outside Europe anymore.
Waiting for Godot is a classic. Why choose three of Beckett’s short plays?
My primary interest is making these actors good at what they do. These plays are more like installations. They don’t have a beginning, middle or end. They have certain images that make powerful impacts.
How do you choose your crew?
I deliberately choose people who have no experience in acting so I can train them from the ground up myself. They come from 12 different backgrounds and are doing 12 different kinds of training. They will be good not because I taught them so, but simply because they are working in the same direction. Even if nobody ever comes, which I don’t believe, they have to perform at some point.
What would you say has changed in acting from your time to now?
There is no bigger con game in the arts than being an acting teacher. Everybody has an opinion about what an actor should be. It’s not just in China, but everywhere. My teachers were 20th-century giants. What they passed on to me becomes me and not them. What I am trying to teach others is that you are the foundation and that you keep building on that.
// Apr 13, 3pm and 7.30pm, RMB180-200. 2/F, q.house, Qianshuiwan Culture Center, 179 Yichang Lu, by Jiangning Lu 宜昌路179号浅水湾文化艺术中心2楼小剧场, 近江宁路 (6266 3191 ext. 8811, www.ticket2010.com)
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