Shakespearean Plays and Chinese Local Operas

During China’s First Shakespeare Festival held in Shanghai in April 1986, four Shakespearean plays were staged in Chinese local operatic forms—Macbeth in kunju opera, Much Ado About Nothing in huangmeixi opera, The Winter’s Tale and Twelfth Night in Shaoxing opera. The aim of this article is to explore the successes and problems in adapting the Shakespearean plays into Chinese local operatic forms.