A rebel against orthodoxy
Wu came from a very poor family, so his mother sent him to the Fu Hsing School of Dramatic Arts (now the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts) at age 11, marking his entry into the world of theater. Because of his exceptional ability, Wu was given a special place, reserved for the school, at Chinese Culture University. After graduation, he smoothly transitioned into the army’s Peking Opera company, quickly becoming the most popular performer of wusheng roles (martial male characters). While in university, he also joined the Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, where, relying on his foundation skills and rigorous training as a wusheng player, he quickly stood out from the crowd. In those days he danced with Cloud Gate while performing opera as well, and his fine physique and exceptional singing skills gained the appreciation of Peking Opera master Chou Cheng-jung. Wu thereupon became Chou’s student, giving him the status of “acolyte,” so to speak, to a venerated figure in that world.
In the 1980s, Taiwan was passing through a period of social and political liberalization, and while diversity and innovation flourished in the fields of culture and music, the ancient art form of Peking Opera withered. Seeing that the glory days of the past were gone forever, Wu, then only 33 years old, thought to himself that innovation was the only way to restore some of the luster to Peking Opera. And so he set up his own troupe—Contemporary Legend Theatre.
For the company’s maiden voyage, The Kingdom of Desire, Wu used experimental techniques to adapt Shakespeare’s Macbeth. In the production, Peking Opera’s four guiding plot themes of “loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and righteousness” were transformed into insatiable desire. In addition, Wu completely dispensed with the traditional “one table and two chairs” arrangement of stage props that had invariably constituted the fundamental structure of Peking Opera. In the work, he melded Peking Opera with contemporary dance, Kunqu, Western Opera, and dance music. The show was very well received by many critics who enjoyed its imaginative modernization of Peking Opera. Needless to say, there was also vociferous criticism from traditionalists. Some angrily declared him to be “in rebellion,” while others bluntly said that the performance “was a violation of and disgrace to the tradition.”
Thereafter, everything from Greek mythology to master works by Western writers like Samuel Beckett and Franz Kafka became grist to the mill of Contemporary Legend’s creative work. The boldness of these cross-fertilizing experiments often left older opera fans breaking out in a cold sweat. In 2007, CLT adapted one of the four great classics of Chinese literature, Shui Hu Zhuan (variously titled in English as The Water Margin, Outlaws of the Marsh, and All Men Are Brothers), and incorporated new-wave elements, including pop music, into a production called 108 Heroes. After the performance run, some audience members worriedly wondered whether CLT’s creative work was becoming a type of isolated “subculture”—possessed of a loyal following but too unorthodox to attract wider audiences. Looking back on those events, Lin Hsiu-wei, who serves variously as producer, scriptwriter, and choreographer for the company (and is also Wu’s wife), can’t help but laugh.
CLT’s fearless rebelliousness has not by any means always won over audiences. Some works get resounding applause right from their first performance, but others have to be worked and reworked for several years before they get positive reviews. Lin explains, “Contemporary Legend is not afraid of failing. Works need time to grow and mature.”
Judging only by their promotional materials, you wouldn’t think you were going to see Peking Opera. But once you enter the theater you become aware that underneath the new-wave and avant-garde embellishments, there is a fierce loyalty to some traditions. No matter how shaken and stirred the format of onstage performances may be, no matter how mind-boggling or daring the mixtures, no work fails to include the core gestures, facial expressions, singing and declaiming techniques, body language, and martial arts of Peking Opera. This is something that Wu Hsing-kuo, who got his start in Peking Opera, has always insisted upon.
Every work staged by CLT breaks new ground, injecting a new spirit into Peking Opera. The photo shows 108 Heroes, an adaptation from the classic Chinese novel Shui Hu Zhuan.