Probably many of us have at least a passing acquaintance with Shakespeare's epic tragedy Hamlet. The Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre certainly does, but they have gone a step further by channeling their knowledge into a Chinese interpretation of this story. Entitled "the Prince's Revenge", this Peking opera portrays the tragic life of the Danish prince and represents an impressive cross-pollination of Oriental and Occidental theatre performance. 

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd.

That was one of many outstanding and classic monologues from Shakespeare's Hamlet, which have all been respectfully preserved in a new adaptation by the Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre. Entitled "the Prince's Revenge", this work was finally unveiled domestically during the 7th Shanghai International Arts Festival.

In this Chinese reproduction of Hamlet, the revenge motif and theatrical format is maintained, but the story's location is altered to Chi Guo, an imaginary city in ancient China.  The characters are also renamed in Chinese, even Hamlet, who becomes Zi Dan in "the Prince's Revenge". As stated, Hamlet's monologues have been maintained, but they are now presented in the form of Peking opera arias.

Being familiar with the story of Hamlet and attracted to this uniquely Chinese rendition, an international audience made its way to the Shanghai Peking Opera Theatre. Among the crowds was a group of foreign students from the Shanghai Second Medical University, one of whom told us that this was the first time she had been to a Peking Opera.

"Actually, we have always wanted to go to a Chinese Opera.  We want to see something that is typically Chinese. It's very different from western operas. And Hamlet is a play we know a bit about, so we came here to see it."

We also encountered another student, this time from East China Normal University. Majoring in teaching Chinese as a foreign language, she has already found it necessary to acquaint herself with traditional Chinese opera forms, while the story itself also inspires interests.

"I wanted to get a more complete picture of this story. It's said that Hamlet is different in each person's eyes, so I wanted to see how Peking Opera depicted his character."

Directed by Shi Yukun, adapted by Feng Gang, and led by young opera talents such as Fu Xiru, the winner of the "Red Plum Blossom" award, the play has already been staged this August at the Hamlet Summer in Denmark's Kronborg Castle. Another performance was also given in Holland, before this domestic debut in Shanghai. For foreign audiences, this should be Peking Opera at its most accessible, since playwright Feng Gang says that few changes were made to Shakespeare's original content.

"We didn't make a lot of changes to the original version.  The main plot centered on the prince's revenge has been maintained, just as in the original play.  However, we have deleted most of the sideline content, because of the essential differences in structure between opera and drama. More often than not, traditional Chinese Peking Opera tells just one, linear story within each play."

As understood by most, Shakespeare's story tells of a prince by the name of Hamlet, or in this case Zi Dan. His father dies because of an intrigue designed by his uncle, who then becomes king and marries the wife of his dead brother. When Hamlet realizes that his father did not die a natural death, but was the victim of treachery, he devotes his energy and his life to battle the evil that surrounds him. As such, he could be a role model for any society, where people should accept responsibility while also rejecting injustice and hegemony.

Although it may seem like something of a cultural clash, there are evident similarities between Shakespeare's original drama and the qualities of Peking Opera. Indeed, an Elizabethan theatre's use of music, song, dance and costume are all quite close in concept that of a Chinese theatre. But obviously, there are some differences; this Peking Opera version also features fantastic acrobatic performances, martial arts scenes and miming.

With various showings in western countries, this Peking Opera hasn't been readily available to the domestic audience. Feng Gang attributes this to a wish that people who come and see the show might already have good background knowledge of the Great Dane.

"Our foreign audiences are quite familiar with the story of Hamlet, and they may already have a certain understanding of this particular character.  So, when they came to see our interpretation of the work, they pay more attention to how we present the story, and whether the means or techniques that we've adopted are appropriate.  I believe it's certainly better to have this basic knowledge of the content before coming to see the performance.  And, as a matter of fact, we have spared no efforts in thinking out the best ways to present the whole story and to portray the psychology of the different characters.  We have produced this whole performance by purely referring to the techniques applied in Peking Opera, as with our grandiose costumes and original arias.  To present a western story in the style of traditional Peking Opera is exactly what we were trying to accomplish.  Therefore, the delicate transition between a western story and traditional Chinese technique serves as a kind of focus for the performance."

Certainly, with acrobatics, arias, plots and intrigue, the Revenge of the Prince appears to be a successful combination of two cultures. And if you missed the chance to see it during the arts festival, don’t worry, as you can catch it again next month, if you happen to near Shanghai. To give the place and the date, the Prince’s Revenge will be staged at the Shanghai Yifu Theatre on December 11th. 

(CRI.com November 29, 2005)