PRODUCTION The Taming of the Shrew [Enu jiaoqi]
Data Type：interview
Author：Chang, Ya-han
Title：An Interview Lin Wen-shou by E-mail
Date：2012/12/4
Language：English
Abstract：The playwright recalls her creative process. She only takes the "essence" of Shakespeare's characters and then writes them in the conventions of Taiwanese opera.
ZHANG. I’d like to ask why you chose to adapt The Taming of the Shrew into Taiwanese opera Mean Girl, Dear Wife. Why did you choose Shakespeare, a Western playwright, and why did you choose this particular play? Did you intend to achieve some intercultural effects?
LIN. This is an early work of mine, and my first attempt to adapt a Western play. I came upon The Taming of the Shrew by accident, and found it to be light-hearted and funny, rather befitting the rhythm and style of Taiwanese opera. I then started adapting it. As for if I intended at interculturalism, I cannot say no, but I was not doing it with a strong sense of mission. Sometimes creation sprouts from a sudden idea. Too much fermentation can lead to heaviness.
ZHANG. Is there any similarity between The Taming of the Shrew and traditional Taiwanese opera plays? Does the play remind you of a particular traditional play?
LIN. Taiwanese opera features “gentleman and lady” love plots, and this is what The Taming of the Shrew is at. As for whether this play reminds me of a particular traditional play, I don’t think so. Maybe it reminds me of the Taiwanese slang, “Rogue Tiger meets Master Guan.”
ZHANG. In the process of adapting Shakespeare, did you feel challenged due to the differences in genre, performance style, etc.? (For example, for bangzi or Peking opera, role types can be very restricting, or maybe the genre demands particular settings, movements, and plots.) How did you overcome the difficulty?
LIN. To make a natural transformation is not easy, and it took me a long time. After all, different cultures think differently. First, I set up the two-men-two-women structure. Of course, I also recalled images from the movie The Taming of the Shrew. However, if you are not confined by the original’s mindset, problems can be overcome. If you only select the essence of its characters, re-creation is not hard.
ZHANG. The Taming of the Shrew is an old Western play, while Mean Girl, Dear Wife is written for a modern Eastern audience. Do you find anything in the original to be in conflict with modern audience’s views? How did you solve the problem?
LIN. It happened many years ago and I did not keep notes (I rarely keep notes recording the creative process) so I can’t really answer this question.
ZHANG. Although Mean Girl, Dear Wife shares the plot with The Taming of the Shrew, many details are different. For example, Hong Qian-li as a beggar, the strategies for taming the shrew, the emotion and interaction between the leading couple, and the “good girl” Lu-hua’s acting as a mean girl in the end. What are your purposes for such changes?
LIN. Taiwanese opera obviously differs from Western plays in its plot development. I am happy that you noticed these differences. As I said, I only took the essence of Shakespeare’s characters, and then I resorted to Taiwanese opera’s basic mode of creation, so the end product is visibly different from the original. Also, many plots from the West would not achieve the same effects on Eastern audiences. My favorite arrangement in Mean Girl, Dear Wife is Lu-hua’s imitation of her elder sister, acting mean to scare away the undesirable suitor. This sudden move recalls previous plot, and brings the play to another climax near the end. This also solves the problem of Lu-hua’s marriage.
LIN. This is an early work of mine, and my first attempt to adapt a Western play. I came upon The Taming of the Shrew by accident, and found it to be light-hearted and funny, rather befitting the rhythm and style of Taiwanese opera. I then started adapting it. As for if I intended at interculturalism, I cannot say no, but I was not doing it with a strong sense of mission. Sometimes creation sprouts from a sudden idea. Too much fermentation can lead to heaviness.
ZHANG. Is there any similarity between The Taming of the Shrew and traditional Taiwanese opera plays? Does the play remind you of a particular traditional play?
LIN. Taiwanese opera features “gentleman and lady” love plots, and this is what The Taming of the Shrew is at. As for whether this play reminds me of a particular traditional play, I don’t think so. Maybe it reminds me of the Taiwanese slang, “Rogue Tiger meets Master Guan.”
ZHANG. In the process of adapting Shakespeare, did you feel challenged due to the differences in genre, performance style, etc.? (For example, for bangzi or Peking opera, role types can be very restricting, or maybe the genre demands particular settings, movements, and plots.) How did you overcome the difficulty?
LIN. To make a natural transformation is not easy, and it took me a long time. After all, different cultures think differently. First, I set up the two-men-two-women structure. Of course, I also recalled images from the movie The Taming of the Shrew. However, if you are not confined by the original’s mindset, problems can be overcome. If you only select the essence of its characters, re-creation is not hard.
ZHANG. The Taming of the Shrew is an old Western play, while Mean Girl, Dear Wife is written for a modern Eastern audience. Do you find anything in the original to be in conflict with modern audience’s views? How did you solve the problem?
LIN. It happened many years ago and I did not keep notes (I rarely keep notes recording the creative process) so I can’t really answer this question.
ZHANG. Although Mean Girl, Dear Wife shares the plot with The Taming of the Shrew, many details are different. For example, Hong Qian-li as a beggar, the strategies for taming the shrew, the emotion and interaction between the leading couple, and the “good girl” Lu-hua’s acting as a mean girl in the end. What are your purposes for such changes?
LIN. Taiwanese opera obviously differs from Western plays in its plot development. I am happy that you noticed these differences. As I said, I only took the essence of Shakespeare’s characters, and then I resorted to Taiwanese opera’s basic mode of creation, so the end product is visibly different from the original. Also, many plots from the West would not achieve the same effects on Eastern audiences. My favorite arrangement in Mean Girl, Dear Wife is Lu-hua’s imitation of her elder sister, acting mean to scare away the undesirable suitor. This sudden move recalls previous plot, and brings the play to another climax near the end. This also solves the problem of Lu-hua’s marriage.
