Data Type：essay
Author：Lu, Xin-ying; Zhang, Debbie
Title：Wang Chia-Ming's Shakespeare
Date：2012/12/3
Language：English
Abstract：a summary of the director's ideas based on the authors' interview
Shakespeare enjoys great popularity, and his plays are the most performed in Taiwan. Many local contemporary directors have adapted or appropriated some of Shakespeare’s plays, and Wang Chia-ming is one of them. Wang is the current theatre director of Shakespeare’s Wild Sisters Group, and so far he has done two Shakespearean productions—Titus Andronicus in 2003 and the beast version of Romeo and Juliet in 2008.
The aesthetics of theatre was brought up several times in the interview with Wang. Wang is not interested in Shakespeare’s “texts”, or at least not in the messages conveyed in his plays or by his characters, such as the universality of humanity or of psychological struggle. As a theatre director, he prefers to turn to the “theatre” itself, to its pragmatic, executive aspect. For Wang, theatre is simply a “form”, a fake rather than a realist or naturalist one. It is a space that should stand on its own and be treated as an individual, independent universe working for theatrical aesthetics, rather than a microcosm that necessarily has to reflect human nature or any real situations in life. He thinks that most people read Shakespeare mainly and purely for meanings; thus, in doing or seeing a Shakespearean production, they tend to look for messages and interpretations such as how the plays or characters might reflect us or our society, or what Shakespeare originally wants to convey to his audience in his time. Wang emphasizes that intrinsic or extrinsic meanings might be indeed important, but they are nonetheless secondary, for what is eventually left on the stage, from the practical perspective of the theatre and of the production, is the flow and rhythm of the actors’ voice.
Wang pays more attention to the theatrical, practical dynamic of the theatre and of the performance, to the flowing power and aesthetics produced by the interactions among lighting, costumes, actors’ bodies, the rhythm of the language and the theatrical space. For Wang, Shakespeare is particularly unique because it is where the energy and power of sounds is best manifested, where the beauty of powerful theatrical collaboration and interaction between space and voice is best exemplified. It is not the universality of human nature or the historical context, but the possibilities given to the theatre and available for the performance, that is the essential he aims to capture and convey. Shakespeare provides him a sense of the three-dimensional space between the audio and the visual, a sense of the audio and vocal energy all coming together in this space, which is precisely the essence of aesthetics that he is looking for in theatre.
One of Wang’s most famous adaptations is the beast version of Romeo and Juliet (2008), with actors crawling and crouching like beasts. The concept of beast first came to Wang’s mind as he wanted to present the impulses and passions of young people. The uncontrollable instinct of the youth is valuable but it will be rationalized and repressed by ethics and morality when people are grown up. In Wang’s eyes, the so-called “civilized” world is far beyond reasonable when comparing to the beasts’ world.
In order to achieve the state of “beast”, Wang kept asking actors to build up their muscles and try to find the balance between bodies and acting. Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art combining elements of dance and music, was introduced to help training the actors. In practice, however, it is hard to carry out as the young undergraduates still kept distance from knowing how to control their sentiments and bodies. Therefore, Wang made a compromise that he let most of the “beasts” stand up at the second half of the play. The sloping boards of the stage were also designed to interact with the “beast” conception. As the boards were sloping, actors had to lower their bodies, and props were also fixed stable beforehand. One of the interesting accidences was that one board happened to fall down when an actor came out, and he kept this inspiring “mistake” at last as it looked fun and suitable. Sometimes accidences contribute creative ideas to him and he enjoys such unexpected issues a lot.
Wang spent over four months, longer than the rehearsal time, translating the script and reading the text out loud, as he considers the sounds of language to be the most significant in theatre. When comparing the Chinese and the English scripts of Shakespeare, Wang prefers to focus on how each word sounds and functions so as to capture the essence of it. When directing Romeo and Juliet, he paid more attention to the rhythm and flow of the language, and strived to find words that would fit the vocal structure and sound effects best, rather than translations that are semantically accurate or faithful. For instance, Wang maintained the original names of the characters, for it is common to call other people “John” or “Mary” instead of “約翰” or “瑪麗”, English names which now become common enough even in our Chinese culture, as our daily life is actually a mixture of western and eastern cultures. Shakespeare to Wang is like a source of translation and adaptation; only in theatrical practice and performance can Shakespeare reveal his charm. As a director, Wang places huge emphasis on practical operation of the theatre, as well as the aesthetics of unity.
Though Romeo and Juliet didn’t work out as Wang expected, he still wants to do it again. For him, the outcome was more like an educational theatre work rather than artwork. If it is possible, Wang would like to find more professional actors so that they can display the energy of their bodies to the extreme. The concept of “beast” will be kept as it is still an interesting aspect concealed in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
The aesthetics of theatre was brought up several times in the interview with Wang. Wang is not interested in Shakespeare’s “texts”, or at least not in the messages conveyed in his plays or by his characters, such as the universality of humanity or of psychological struggle. As a theatre director, he prefers to turn to the “theatre” itself, to its pragmatic, executive aspect. For Wang, theatre is simply a “form”, a fake rather than a realist or naturalist one. It is a space that should stand on its own and be treated as an individual, independent universe working for theatrical aesthetics, rather than a microcosm that necessarily has to reflect human nature or any real situations in life. He thinks that most people read Shakespeare mainly and purely for meanings; thus, in doing or seeing a Shakespearean production, they tend to look for messages and interpretations such as how the plays or characters might reflect us or our society, or what Shakespeare originally wants to convey to his audience in his time. Wang emphasizes that intrinsic or extrinsic meanings might be indeed important, but they are nonetheless secondary, for what is eventually left on the stage, from the practical perspective of the theatre and of the production, is the flow and rhythm of the actors’ voice.
Wang pays more attention to the theatrical, practical dynamic of the theatre and of the performance, to the flowing power and aesthetics produced by the interactions among lighting, costumes, actors’ bodies, the rhythm of the language and the theatrical space. For Wang, Shakespeare is particularly unique because it is where the energy and power of sounds is best manifested, where the beauty of powerful theatrical collaboration and interaction between space and voice is best exemplified. It is not the universality of human nature or the historical context, but the possibilities given to the theatre and available for the performance, that is the essential he aims to capture and convey. Shakespeare provides him a sense of the three-dimensional space between the audio and the visual, a sense of the audio and vocal energy all coming together in this space, which is precisely the essence of aesthetics that he is looking for in theatre.
One of Wang’s most famous adaptations is the beast version of Romeo and Juliet (2008), with actors crawling and crouching like beasts. The concept of beast first came to Wang’s mind as he wanted to present the impulses and passions of young people. The uncontrollable instinct of the youth is valuable but it will be rationalized and repressed by ethics and morality when people are grown up. In Wang’s eyes, the so-called “civilized” world is far beyond reasonable when comparing to the beasts’ world.
In order to achieve the state of “beast”, Wang kept asking actors to build up their muscles and try to find the balance between bodies and acting. Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art combining elements of dance and music, was introduced to help training the actors. In practice, however, it is hard to carry out as the young undergraduates still kept distance from knowing how to control their sentiments and bodies. Therefore, Wang made a compromise that he let most of the “beasts” stand up at the second half of the play. The sloping boards of the stage were also designed to interact with the “beast” conception. As the boards were sloping, actors had to lower their bodies, and props were also fixed stable beforehand. One of the interesting accidences was that one board happened to fall down when an actor came out, and he kept this inspiring “mistake” at last as it looked fun and suitable. Sometimes accidences contribute creative ideas to him and he enjoys such unexpected issues a lot.
Wang spent over four months, longer than the rehearsal time, translating the script and reading the text out loud, as he considers the sounds of language to be the most significant in theatre. When comparing the Chinese and the English scripts of Shakespeare, Wang prefers to focus on how each word sounds and functions so as to capture the essence of it. When directing Romeo and Juliet, he paid more attention to the rhythm and flow of the language, and strived to find words that would fit the vocal structure and sound effects best, rather than translations that are semantically accurate or faithful. For instance, Wang maintained the original names of the characters, for it is common to call other people “John” or “Mary” instead of “約翰” or “瑪麗”, English names which now become common enough even in our Chinese culture, as our daily life is actually a mixture of western and eastern cultures. Shakespeare to Wang is like a source of translation and adaptation; only in theatrical practice and performance can Shakespeare reveal his charm. As a director, Wang places huge emphasis on practical operation of the theatre, as well as the aesthetics of unity.
Though Romeo and Juliet didn’t work out as Wang expected, he still wants to do it again. For him, the outcome was more like an educational theatre work rather than artwork. If it is possible, Wang would like to find more professional actors so that they can display the energy of their bodies to the extreme. The concept of “beast” will be kept as it is still an interesting aspect concealed in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
