PRODUCTION King Lear [Lier zai ci]
Data Type：news
Author：Tang, Hsiang-yi
Title：A modern knight — Wu Hsing-kuo
Source：China Post
Date：2011/12/16
Abstract：Wu Hsing-kuo received the Insignes de Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres from French authorities in Taiwan, a new Knight of the Arts and Letters award, in recognition to his major contribution in the fields of Taiwan's traditional arts.
Wu Hsing-kuo (吳興國), director of the Contemporary Legend Theater (CLT, 當代傳奇劇場) has played the lead in Macbeth, King Lear and other adaptations of classical Western literature works in the style of Beijing opera.
Yesterday, the acclaimed actor, who received the Insignes de Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres from French authorities in Taiwan, took a new Knight of the Arts and Letters award, in recognition to his major contribution in the fields of Taiwan's traditional arts.
A Modern Knight
Macbeth was Wu's first try when he founded CLT in 1986. In Kingdom of Desire (慾望城國) he demonstrated to audiences how Beijing opera's signature techniques such as singing, acting, reciting and acrobatic fighting can tell the tragic story of General Macbeth usurping the throne, in a modern theatrical format.
Wu believes that it was Taiwan's social background at that time which presented him the opportunity to try something bolder. “After Taiwan's Martial Law was lifted, I sensed a breath of fresh air that was unimaginable before; authors, musicians, actor and dancers started to build their own groups in Taiwan,” he said.
“To me the art of opera is like a big family, and there's no country boundary in art,” he added.
During his college years as a theatre student at Chinese Culture University (中國文化大學), he joined Taiwan's first contemporary dance troupe Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集), where he was nurtured in the world of contemporary performing art, planting the roots to create a contemporary theatre of his own later on.
“In the beginning of my career I was deeply influenced by Lin Hwai-min's cause (林懷民) — Cloud Gate's founder — that I believed as long as you are interested by something, the only way is to insist on it, no matter what kind of difficulty lies ahead,” he explained.
Wu was once frustrated because his innovation seemed to antagonize the censorship authorities at the time. In 2000, he even shut the troupe down and took the invitation from his good friend Ariane Mnouchkine, stage director of Théâtre du Soleil in France. She asked Wu to give a few lessons to her troupe. And CLT's most-toured work so far King Lear (李爾在此) began to sprout.
“The first version of it, which was only 25-minute long, received some enthusiastic discussion after I presented it in Ariane's theatre,” he recalled. “She said to me that she would kill me if I don't find my way back to the stage again.”
Wu interpreted ten characters in King Lear, marking a peak in his acting career. The show toured to more than ten countries since its debut in 2001, as well as at this year's Edinburgh Art Festival, which opened a series of invitation in the near future.
“Every time I put on my costume and wear the snowy-white beard before I stand on the stage for King Lear, I see Adriane's face,” he recalled.
The Tenth Taiwanese Honoree
The Knight of the Arts and Letters Medal was established by the Ministry of Culture of France in 1957 to recognize major contributions in the fields of arts, literature and culture.
“The innovation of Beijing opera allows it to be passed on, and brought to a wider audience,” said Olivier Richard, director of French Institute in Taipei as he conferred the medal to Wu.
“You are the first person to open such possibility that when you preserve the tradition, you give it modernity as well,” he added.
Previous honorees from Taiwan include film directors Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) and Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), choreographer Lin Hwai-min, author Kao Hsing-chien (高行健) and former artistic director of the National Theater and Concert Hall Tchen Yu-chiou. Wu is the tenth recipient.
Yesterday, the acclaimed actor, who received the Insignes de Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres from French authorities in Taiwan, took a new Knight of the Arts and Letters award, in recognition to his major contribution in the fields of Taiwan's traditional arts.
A Modern Knight
Macbeth was Wu's first try when he founded CLT in 1986. In Kingdom of Desire (慾望城國) he demonstrated to audiences how Beijing opera's signature techniques such as singing, acting, reciting and acrobatic fighting can tell the tragic story of General Macbeth usurping the throne, in a modern theatrical format.
Wu believes that it was Taiwan's social background at that time which presented him the opportunity to try something bolder. “After Taiwan's Martial Law was lifted, I sensed a breath of fresh air that was unimaginable before; authors, musicians, actor and dancers started to build their own groups in Taiwan,” he said.
“To me the art of opera is like a big family, and there's no country boundary in art,” he added.
During his college years as a theatre student at Chinese Culture University (中國文化大學), he joined Taiwan's first contemporary dance troupe Cloud Gate Dance Theatre (雲門舞集), where he was nurtured in the world of contemporary performing art, planting the roots to create a contemporary theatre of his own later on.
“In the beginning of my career I was deeply influenced by Lin Hwai-min's cause (林懷民) — Cloud Gate's founder — that I believed as long as you are interested by something, the only way is to insist on it, no matter what kind of difficulty lies ahead,” he explained.
Wu was once frustrated because his innovation seemed to antagonize the censorship authorities at the time. In 2000, he even shut the troupe down and took the invitation from his good friend Ariane Mnouchkine, stage director of Théâtre du Soleil in France. She asked Wu to give a few lessons to her troupe. And CLT's most-toured work so far King Lear (李爾在此) began to sprout.
“The first version of it, which was only 25-minute long, received some enthusiastic discussion after I presented it in Ariane's theatre,” he recalled. “She said to me that she would kill me if I don't find my way back to the stage again.”
Wu interpreted ten characters in King Lear, marking a peak in his acting career. The show toured to more than ten countries since its debut in 2001, as well as at this year's Edinburgh Art Festival, which opened a series of invitation in the near future.
“Every time I put on my costume and wear the snowy-white beard before I stand on the stage for King Lear, I see Adriane's face,” he recalled.
The Tenth Taiwanese Honoree
The Knight of the Arts and Letters Medal was established by the Ministry of Culture of France in 1957 to recognize major contributions in the fields of arts, literature and culture.
“The innovation of Beijing opera allows it to be passed on, and brought to a wider audience,” said Olivier Richard, director of French Institute in Taipei as he conferred the medal to Wu.
“You are the first person to open such possibility that when you preserve the tradition, you give it modernity as well,” he added.
Previous honorees from Taiwan include film directors Hou Hsiao-hsien (侯孝賢) and Tsai Ming-liang (蔡明亮), choreographer Lin Hwai-min, author Kao Hsing-chien (高行健) and former artistic director of the National Theater and Concert Hall Tchen Yu-chiou. Wu is the tenth recipient.
