Jingju actor and director Wu Hsing-kuo＇s （吴兴国） Lear Is Here （2001） is a 90-minute solo performance adapted from Shakespeare＇s King Lear and performed injingju style. In this performance, he alternately perfor...Jingju actor and director Wu Hsing-kuo＇s （吴兴国） Lear Is Here （2001） is a 90-minute solo performance adapted from Shakespeare＇s King Lear and performed injingju style. In this performance, he alternately performs 10 male and female characters including himself injingju role types ofsheng （male）, dan （female）,jing （painted face）, mo, and chou （clown） in search 0f dual identities. This paper will investigate Wu＇s performance in Lear Is Here from three directions： First, how Wu subtly combines Shakespearean dramatic tension and psychological complex, his versatilejingju performing styles, and Brechtian alienation effect in developing his unique artistic flair？ What are at stake of such an eclectic performance？ Second, in the rooting and re-routing of both Shakespearean plays andjingju acting style where Wu Hsing-kuo meets King Lear, how Wu articulates the meticulous details of both source culture and target culture while at once extracting them out of context to interweave and re-articulate them into an eclectic intercultural theater？ Third, investigating the cultural exchange, bicroleurs, audience reception, and production mode of the work, the author will try to do away with the ＂authenticity＂ or ＂representativeness＂ of either the East or the West, but explore the possibilities of the hybrid theater in search of alternative aesthetic and emerging performance genre展开更多
文摘Jingju actor and director Wu Hsing-kuo＇s （吴兴国） Lear Is Here （2001） is a 90-minute solo performance adapted from Shakespeare＇s King Lear and performed injingju style. In this performance, he alternately performs 10 male and female characters including himself injingju role types ofsheng （male）, dan （female）,jing （painted face）, mo, and chou （clown） in search 0f dual identities. This paper will investigate Wu＇s performance in Lear Is Here from three directions： First, how Wu subtly combines Shakespearean dramatic tension and psychological complex, his versatilejingju performing styles, and Brechtian alienation effect in developing his unique artistic flair？ What are at stake of such an eclectic performance？ Second, in the rooting and re-routing of both Shakespearean plays andjingju acting style where Wu Hsing-kuo meets King Lear, how Wu articulates the meticulous details of both source culture and target culture while at once extracting them out of context to interweave and re-articulate them into an eclectic intercultural theater？ Third, investigating the cultural exchange, bicroleurs, audience reception, and production mode of the work, the author will try to do away with the ＂authenticity＂ or ＂representativeness＂ of either the East or the West, but explore the possibilities of the hybrid theater in search of alternative aesthetic and emerging performance genre
