Zhang Xiaoyi

    417880236@qq.com

    WHAT scares a playwright most might be a critic, but what challenges a critic is a play that mixes traditional Chinese opera, modern absurdity and contemporary ambition. This is what the Contemporary Legend Theater (CLT) from Taiwan did with a retelling of Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” mixed with Kunqu and performances of Beijing opera.

    CLT brought the unique production to Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center Theater in Shenzhen on Saturday and Sunday and also a pre-show talk at OCT Contemporary Art Terminal (OCAT) on Friday night.

    “Our play interprets Beckett with Eastern culture,” said Lin Hsiu-wei, producer of CLT, at the talk Friday. Lin said CLT is aimed at turning traditional Chinese opera into modern theater, enabling it to break down and mix forms and values.

    This is why CLT was founded in 1986, by Lin’s husband, Wu Hsing-kuo, the play’s director. Both Lin and Wu used to be members of Cloud Gate Dance Theater founded by Lin Hwai-min.

    Aside from the tunes of Kunqu and the four basic performing styles of Beijing opera, this play was produced with Eastern aesthetics. According to Lin, the stage decoration is imbued with a sense of Zen — a barren tree fixed upside down and a rock on the floor. The idea of Zen was also embedded in the interchange of action and stillness in the performance.

    The costumes, complex and exaggerated, were designed by Huang Wen-ying, the costume designer for Hou Hsiao-hsien’s films, including the “Assassin” (2015). The Chinese translation of Godot is different too — “果陀” (guo tuo), which addressed two concepts in Buddhism. “果” refers to consequence and “陀,” Buddha.

    But can the Eastern elements help shed light upon the existentialist ideas, loneliness and blurred spacetime in the original play? Wu and his apprentice, Sheng Chien, who played the two main roles Gogo and Didi, admit it was difficult.

    Wu said the intended absurdist form, such as the disconnected lines and conversations, break down the traditional structures of theater. A leap, because there is no concept of absurdity in traditional Chinese opera.

    Sheng said they made an initial 20-minute performance that was vetoed by Chin Shih-chieh, also a Taiwanese playwright, actor and director. Chin suggested blending the performances using modern language and physical expressions, and was later invited as an art director for the play.

    The show Saturday night was preluded by Lin’s brief introduction. Apart from Wu and Sheng, Ma Pao-shan, the founding member of CLT, and Lin Chao-hsu played a newly rich character and a slave, with 10-year-old Lo Yun-lu as Godot’s courier.