Ninagawa Hideo, the man behind Japan's Ninagawa Theatre, is keen on Japanese-style adaptations of Western plays, having produced The Ninagawa Macbeth, The Medea, and The Ninagawa Oedipus Rex. Transposing the scene to Japan's early historical era, his productions in America, Britain and Greece have been highly praised.
Wu Ching-chi, who accompanied the Contemporary Legend Theatre on their tour to Britain, pinpoints the reasons for the Ninagawa Theatre's success as being that it's a small experimental company which doesn't take a commercial approach, it's not weighed down with baggage, and it can call upon various sources of funding at home and abroad. Despite the company's lack of grounding in traditional drama, they know how to use classical elements from kabuki and noh drama and give a modern twist to traditional steps, speech, staging and costume design, so that everyone who has seen them feels the whole effect is "utterly Japanese." The Japanese have long been expert at internationalizing their culture, and are dab hands at giving audiences what they want and keeping their length of performance under control. All of these have contributed to the Ninagawa Theatre's success.
For example, when the Ninagawa Macbeth was performed in Britain, the set was a huge Buddhist temple and the historical background was shifted to the Japanese shogunate period, while solemn chiming bells and fluttering snowflakes lent the production the pure beauty of Japanese kabuki. In The Medea, actors and actresses doubled their parts, and foreign audiences were entranced by original techniques such as pearls suspended from the eyelids to represent tears.
"But Japanese theatre has an advantage over Chinese in internationalizing itself. When it comes to Western tragedies, Japanese theatre prefers subdued color-schemes and the actors' voices are closer to natural speech, so it's easier to convey a tragic feel; Peking opera's preference for falsetto strikes a false note in Western tragedy," comments Wu.
Ninagawa Theatre producer Nakane Kimio also believes that the Contemporary Legend Theatre's approach is more demanding since their actors come from a traditional Peking opera background, which means they have further to go than a modern company in reaching international audiences.
[Picture Caption]
Lady Macbeth's role requires a combination of several Peking opera roletypes to give it enough expressiveness. (from Kingdom of Desire)
（Below） As a Chinese version of Hamlet, The Prince's Revenge has had a mixed critical reception. （from Hamlet）
Lady Macbeth's role requires a combination of several Peking opera roletypes to give it enough expressiveness. （from Kingdom of Desire）
@List.jpg?w=522&h=410&mode=crop&format=webp&quality=80)
@List.jpg?w=522&h=410&mode=crop&format=webp&quality=80)