Classics of Shakespeare, Tang Xianzu meet in Beijing

Joint performances of two classic plays of British playwright William Shakespeare and Chinese counterpart Tang Xianzu were staged in Beijing on Monday and Tuesday nights as a bridge of communications between students of the two countries.

Yang Changchun, vice president of the University of International Business and Economics, speaks to audiences before the theater production "A Midsummer Night's Dreaming Under the Southern Bough" at the 77 Theater in Beijing on Sept. 20, 2016. [Photo / China.org.cn]

"William Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu: Celebrating a 400 Year Legacy," is a unique global collaboration by the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and the University of Leeds to create a new special stage production "A Midsummer Night's Dreaming Under the Southern Bough" to commemorate the death anniversaries of the two men, featuring university students from both the U.K. and China.

Student actors separately performed Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," and Tang Xianzu's "A Dream under the Southern Bough" in a modern interpretation. Chinese director Li Jun added Chinese elements to the Shakespeare play, while Steve Ansell and Adam Strickson provided a British setting for the Tang play.

Yang Changchun, vice president of UIBE, said in his opening remarks on Tuesday that this was an international collaboration in the name of dreaming. "The two giants were both great playwrights, and both created plays themed on dreams. Their literary souls echoed each other in the same era across two continents. They died in the same year, too, which was not only a great coincidence, but also provided abundant inspirations for later generations."

The Chinese-British project was initiated as early as February 2015. Yang considered the collaboration to be one to enhance friendship and cultural exchanges between young people from the two countries.

Li Ruru, professor of Chinese Theatre Studies from the East Asian Studies Faculty at the University of Leeds, one of those leading the project, said this kind of cultural exchange would have a subtle influence on actors, and "this influence will also pass on to more Chinese and British people through their performances."

Li also pointed out that even many Chinese didn't know much about Tang Xianzu, "We have to have cultural confidence, but we cannot afford not to know our own culture." She said the performance offered Chinese audiences a chance to reconsider their own culture.

From July to September, the joint performances were staged 13 times at the Leeds Intercultural Theater Festival, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the 2016 Shanghai William Shakespeare Festival and at the 77 Theatre in Beijing.

Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming praised the production at the world debut of the show in July at Leeds Intercultural Theater Festival, saying, "It is a creative interpretation of Shakespeare's and Tang's classic works. This ingenious re-production transcends time and culture, and brings two literary masters to the same stage."