The Contemporary Legend Theatre (CLT; 當代傳奇）, one of the most celebrated performance troupes in Taiwan today, was founded in 1986 by Wu Hsing-kuo, a traditionally trained Beijing opera performer. Searching for new forms of theatrical expression, Wu started experimenting with productions of Shakespeare featuring Beijing opera techniques and methods of modern staging. The first production, The Kingdom of Desire (an adaptation of Macbeth) in 1986, with Wu as Macbeth and Wei Hai-min as Lady Macbeth, was a great success. In 1996, Wei Hai-ming, a famous Beijing opera actress of the Mei Lanfang school (梅派), received the Plum Flower Award, the highest honor for Beijing opera actors.
The company has staged both adaptations of such classics asTempest, King Lear, Medea, andOresteia (a collaboration with Richard Schechner, in the style of environmental theatre), and modern plays such as Waiting for Godot. It has toured many countries and won many awards. In CLT's performances, traditional Beijing opera techniques heighten the theatricality of Western classics, while modern staging methods and multimedia techniques enrich the tradition of Beijing opera. Wu Hsing-kuo, the founder and artistic director of the Contemporary Legend Theatre, believes that to make traditional topics more meaningful they must be given not only a change of style, but also a new spirit, new thinking, and new attitudes that reflect contemporary society. CLT is one of the most successful troupes of intercultural theatre.
During its California tour in May 2007, CLT will perform two traditional Beijing opera pieces, Farewell My Concubine(霸王別姬) and The Drunken Beauty(貴妃醉酒) featuring Wei Hai-min, and a solo piece, Lear, by Wu Hsing-kuo. The lecture and demonstration at UCLA will feature Wu Hsing-kuo (the artistic director), Lin Hsiu-wei (the producer), Wei Hai-min (the leading female performer) and Hsu Ching-chi (the orchestra director). They will demonstrate sections from Beijing opera and discuss issues related to contemporary theatre, such as the negotiation between modernity and tradition in theatrical expression.
WU Hsing-kuo, Artistic Director of the Contemporary Legend Theatre, studied at the Fu-Hsing Chinese Opera School and specialized in wu sheng (male martial roles) and lao sheng (middle-aged or old male roles). He received his BA from the Theatre Department at the Chinese Culture University. Since 1973, during his university years, he was a leading dancer with Cloud Gate Dance Theatre. After his graduation in 1977, he became a member of Lu-Kuang Chinese Opera Company. Wu playedg a wide variety of roles, and was awarded the Military Golden award for 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.
Wu has also acted in films, playing the leading roles in Ho Ping's Eighteen and Tsui Hark'sGreen Snake. Wu won the 1994 Hong Kong Film Award as best new actor for his role inThe Temptation of a Monk directed by Clara Law.
information from: http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/article.asp?parentid=68204
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I read lots of articles and interview video clips about Wu Hsing-kuo and his group. His performance seems really cool. But it's hard to know how cool it is without seeing the performance. So when I went back to Taiwan, I went to National library to see the DVDs. (I couldn't find any on the Internet!) What I saw was "The Kingdom of Desire" which adapted from Macbeth. I saw Macbeth before, the original one. So for me, it was hard to image how Wu were going to perform Macbeth in Chinese way. However, I was astonished that it was so suitable! The English poetic dialogue changed into the Chinese elegant song and the fighting scene became the Chinese Kung Fu show. It seems like the story really happened some point in the past Chinese. There are some pictures about The Kingdom of Desire. We can see where they changed from the traditional Chinese opera.
In traditional Chinese Opera, one table and two chairs are the main setting on the stage.
In The Kingdom of Desire, they still use them but new form.
The traditional make-up and costume. The costume of queen.
We can see there are some same elements, such as the belts and the props they hold in their hands. (the props represent horses. Means they ride on the horse.)
CLT gave Chinese opera new life. From my point of view, it was a good try. They changed the form but still save the soul. Nevertheless, before they performed The Kingdom of Desire (1986), many celebrities from Chinese opera blamed Wu. They said he ruined Chinese opera. They thought traditional should not be changed. Wu's teacher even stopped talked to him. However, Wu still believe himself and gave us this great show. Nowadays, more and more Chinese opera group start to try something new because of the pioneer CLT.
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