PRODUCTION The Tempest [Baofengyu]
Data Type：production background
Title：Q & A on The Tempest
Source：The Tempest Special Edition Program (2006)
Place：Taipei
Publisher：Contemporary Legend Theatre [Dangdai chuanqi juchang]
Date：2006
Language：English
Abstract：Artistic Director Wu Hsing-kuo answers questions about his adaption of Shakespeare's The Tempest: why the company chose to adapt The Tempest, why he collaborated with film director Tsui Hark, how the visual imagery is presented on stage, and the meaning of this "Peking Opera Musical” style.
1. After adapting Macbeth, Hamlet, and King Lear, three of Shakespeare’s four major tragedies, why did the company choose to adapt The Tempest?
This was the first time the company produced a play for Taiwan, an isolated island in the ocean. Recently, in Taiwan’s special political environment, the mutual exclusion, intimidations, and divisions of ethnic groups were Taiwan’s historical wounds. Traditional values and culture were eroded and ignored. Producing The Tempest was to pray for the serenity after the purification of the mind. The care for aboriginal peoples and nature should be one of the most concerned issues in the contemporary world.
2. Why did you think of collaborating with film director Tsui Hark?
Ever since my first playing a role in Tsui Hark’s Green Snake, whenever the CLT performed in Hong Kong, Tsui Hark would attend the performance; and he invariably would put forward many ideas while eating late-night snacks. And so, on the New Year’s Day of 2004, in my call to wish him Happy New Year, I won his consent to take part in the play’s production. Being very creative, Tsui Hark put forward six versions of story boards. Eventually, a final version came into shape after synthesizing the merits of all available versions. Each of his hand-painted story boards, like a film story board, set up the framework of the play; I then filled up specific performing details.
3. How do you make use of stage aesthetics to produce The Tempest’s visual imagery?
In designing the set, Oscar award winner Tim Yip sought to present a sense of the explosive in the vicinity of placidness. He employed plenty of white spaces and plenty of black blocks to form a flowing space. For instance, the magus’s gown designed by him is 4 meters high and 5 meters wide, which took 20 tailors to produce. On the stage, the magus in his gown and the spirits in their white costumes create on the stage flowing color blocks, enhanced with the simple but gorgeous stage set.
The hieroglyphic writing on the magus’s red gown echoes man’s power to use “Knowledge” to rule over the wild island. As the magus wields his gown to stir a storm, the fluttering and dancing of the writing symbolizes that human brain is restless and about to start some move; it also produces a great multitude of images resembling those produced by the rituals of Chinese traditional religions. Besides, the ship is accomplished by the use of costume. Ariel, putting on her phoenix’s hat and gorgeous cloak, creates the image of a big ship on the stage. The shipwreck scene is also made possible through the use of costume. The set idea of The Tempest is called Costume Theatre, which means the entire image comes from the actors and their costumes; and that through them both the play’s content and purpose are expressed.
4. Given the trajectory of your creativity in Peking Opera over the past twenty years, is there a special meaning or attempt to position this adaptation in the style of a “Peking Opera Musical”?
According to Shakespeare, “All the world’s a stage”; “And one man in his time plays many parts” (As You Like It). One Peking Opera saying, however, claims, “The players have no emotion.” While the Peking Opera saying is exceedingly insulting in Peking Opera circle, Shakespeare’s remarks elevate the status of players in The Tempest. All real scenery, splendid attic; cloud, fog, flower and grass; and a violent storm are all created by the spirit-like players. The stage of Peking Opera is an empty space; its art is a stylized one. Relying upon actors’ role playing and story telling ability, an empty space can be everything. Our actors are versatile: they can sing, recite, act, and fight; they can dance and somersault. If the entire production can be positioned as a musical, it can fully demonstrate the versatile actors’ merits. In the play, the magus, Ariel, and Caliban would employ, respectively, Peking Opera, Kun Opera, and aboriginal voice and music to interpret their roles. The rich variety of music symbolizes, on the one hand, Taiwan’s multiculturalism; on the other, it also echoes the masque scene of Shakespeare’s play text. I expect that all actors, musicians, and stage crew members can construct this show with maximum enthusiasm, demonstrating their talents in a work that is audio-visually satisfying for the audience.
This was the first time the company produced a play for Taiwan, an isolated island in the ocean. Recently, in Taiwan’s special political environment, the mutual exclusion, intimidations, and divisions of ethnic groups were Taiwan’s historical wounds. Traditional values and culture were eroded and ignored. Producing The Tempest was to pray for the serenity after the purification of the mind. The care for aboriginal peoples and nature should be one of the most concerned issues in the contemporary world.
2. Why did you think of collaborating with film director Tsui Hark?
Ever since my first playing a role in Tsui Hark’s Green Snake, whenever the CLT performed in Hong Kong, Tsui Hark would attend the performance; and he invariably would put forward many ideas while eating late-night snacks. And so, on the New Year’s Day of 2004, in my call to wish him Happy New Year, I won his consent to take part in the play’s production. Being very creative, Tsui Hark put forward six versions of story boards. Eventually, a final version came into shape after synthesizing the merits of all available versions. Each of his hand-painted story boards, like a film story board, set up the framework of the play; I then filled up specific performing details.
3. How do you make use of stage aesthetics to produce The Tempest’s visual imagery?
In designing the set, Oscar award winner Tim Yip sought to present a sense of the explosive in the vicinity of placidness. He employed plenty of white spaces and plenty of black blocks to form a flowing space. For instance, the magus’s gown designed by him is 4 meters high and 5 meters wide, which took 20 tailors to produce. On the stage, the magus in his gown and the spirits in their white costumes create on the stage flowing color blocks, enhanced with the simple but gorgeous stage set.
The hieroglyphic writing on the magus’s red gown echoes man’s power to use “Knowledge” to rule over the wild island. As the magus wields his gown to stir a storm, the fluttering and dancing of the writing symbolizes that human brain is restless and about to start some move; it also produces a great multitude of images resembling those produced by the rituals of Chinese traditional religions. Besides, the ship is accomplished by the use of costume. Ariel, putting on her phoenix’s hat and gorgeous cloak, creates the image of a big ship on the stage. The shipwreck scene is also made possible through the use of costume. The set idea of The Tempest is called Costume Theatre, which means the entire image comes from the actors and their costumes; and that through them both the play’s content and purpose are expressed.
4. Given the trajectory of your creativity in Peking Opera over the past twenty years, is there a special meaning or attempt to position this adaptation in the style of a “Peking Opera Musical”?
According to Shakespeare, “All the world’s a stage”; “And one man in his time plays many parts” (As You Like It). One Peking Opera saying, however, claims, “The players have no emotion.” While the Peking Opera saying is exceedingly insulting in Peking Opera circle, Shakespeare’s remarks elevate the status of players in The Tempest. All real scenery, splendid attic; cloud, fog, flower and grass; and a violent storm are all created by the spirit-like players. The stage of Peking Opera is an empty space; its art is a stylized one. Relying upon actors’ role playing and story telling ability, an empty space can be everything. Our actors are versatile: they can sing, recite, act, and fight; they can dance and somersault. If the entire production can be positioned as a musical, it can fully demonstrate the versatile actors’ merits. In the play, the magus, Ariel, and Caliban would employ, respectively, Peking Opera, Kun Opera, and aboriginal voice and music to interpret their roles. The rich variety of music symbolizes, on the one hand, Taiwan’s multiculturalism; on the other, it also echoes the masque scene of Shakespeare’s play text. I expect that all actors, musicians, and stage crew members can construct this show with maximum enthusiasm, demonstrating their talents in a work that is audio-visually satisfying for the audience.
