Taiwanese stage and movie actor, dancer Wu Hsing-kuo will bring his Beijing opera version of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” in early May. Wu is famous for blending Beijing opera, Western literature and modern dance in creative ways. He, who was rigorously trained in Beijing opera, is well versed in modern dance.

    “Waiting for Godot” is an absurdist play in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for the arrival of someone named Godot. Godot’s absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many interpretations since the play’s 1953 premiere. It was voted “the most significant English language play of the 20th century.”

    Wu visited Shenzhen in December when he played “King Lear” here. He fused Beijing opera elements of singing, acting, acrobatics into the Shakespeare classic. He played all 10 of the major characters, from King Lear to his three daughters, from a servant to a cabinet minister, depicting the delicate emotional changes of the 10 characters with different Beijing opera singing vocals. The play has toured in more than 20 countries. Combining richly embroidered and colorful costumes, dazzling martial arts, contemporary dance, superb visual effects, and live Chinese music and song, Wu creates what The Guardian calls “one of the best blends of Eastern and Western techniques. In any language this is exciting theater.”

    Wu was trained in Beijing opera since the age of 11, specializing in wusheng (male martial) roles. He was admitted with honors into the Theater Department of Chinese Culture University in Taipei, and became the lead dancer of Lin Hwai-min’s Cloud Gate Dance Theater.

    In 1986, he and a group of enthusiastic friends founded the Contemporary Legend Theater in Taipei, seeking to revitalize traditional Chinese theater by adapting Western classical plays to the style and techniques of Beijing opera. He was the leading actor and director of four Shakespeare adaptations, including the critically acclaimed “Kingdom of Desire,” an adaptation of “Macbeth,” and “King Lear.”

    To support himself and his theater group, Wu starred in a few Hong Kong and Taiwanese commercial movies during the 1990s and in 1992, he won the Hong Kong Film Award for best new actor.

    Time: 7:30 p.m., May 7-8

    Tickets: 100-480 yuan

    Reservation:

    400-185-8666

    Venue: Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center, 2106 Nanshan Boulevard, Nanshan District (南山区南山大道2106号南山文体中心)

    Metro: Luobao Line, Taoyuan Station (桃园站), Exit B

    (SD News)