PRODUCTION King Lear [Lier zai ci]
Data Type：bio
Title：About Wu Hsing-kuo
Source：King Lear Premiere Program
Place：Taipei
Publisher：Contemporary Legend Theatre [Dangdai chuanqi juchang]
Date：2001/7
Language：English
Abstract：bio of artistic director
Wu studied at the Fu Hsing Chinese Opera School and Theatre Department at Chinese Culture University, specialized in cavalier and aged man. During his university years, he was a leading dancer with Cloud Gate Legacy. He was a member with Lu Kwan Chinese Opera Troupe for the next 15 years. Being an actor capable in a variety of roles, Wu has won the Military Golden award for the best actor three times. He received a grant from the Council for Cultural Affairs and a Fulbright Scholarship to study in New York in 1992.
In 1986, Wu and a group of enthusiastic friends founded the Contemporary Legend Theatre. The renewal of Chinese opera by adapting Western classical plays to the styles and techniques of Peking Opera acting. He was both leading actor and director of the groundbreaking Kingdom of Desire, adapted from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Then followed War and Eternity, adapted from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Yin Yang River, and The Last Days of Emperor Li-Yu. In 1993, he played Jason in Medea directed by Lin Hsiu-Wei. In 1995, he played dual roles as Agamemnon and Orestes in Oresteia, directed by Richard Schechner. Wu played the comic but tragic character “Ah Q” with Fu Hsing Chinese Opera Theatre in 1996. His jester performance was one of the most remembered character roles of that year.
As of 1992, Wu has been involved in films, playing the leading roles in Eighteen by Ho Ping and Green Snake by Hsiu Ke. He won the 1994 Hong Kong Film Award as best new actor for his role in Temptation of a Monk, directed by Clara Law. He also acted in television programs, such as The Early Days of President Lee Den-Hui.
In 1986, Wu and a group of enthusiastic friends founded the Contemporary Legend Theatre. The renewal of Chinese opera by adapting Western classical plays to the styles and techniques of Peking Opera acting. He was both leading actor and director of the groundbreaking Kingdom of Desire, adapted from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Then followed War and Eternity, adapted from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Yin Yang River, and The Last Days of Emperor Li-Yu. In 1993, he played Jason in Medea directed by Lin Hsiu-Wei. In 1995, he played dual roles as Agamemnon and Orestes in Oresteia, directed by Richard Schechner. Wu played the comic but tragic character “Ah Q” with Fu Hsing Chinese Opera Theatre in 1996. His jester performance was one of the most remembered character roles of that year.
As of 1992, Wu has been involved in films, playing the leading roles in Eighteen by Ho Ping and Green Snake by Hsiu Ke. He won the 1994 Hong Kong Film Award as best new actor for his role in Temptation of a Monk, directed by Clara Law. He also acted in television programs, such as The Early Days of President Lee Den-Hui.
