Wu Hsin-Kuo:
Creating a New Path for Chinese Operas
Angie Chou
COMPOSITION (2)
Professor Aiden Yeh
4 January 2015

Chou i
Outline
THESIS: Wu Hsin-Kuo adapts Western plays for Chinese Operas, and his accomplishments have a great impact for the transformation of traditional operas.
I. Wu Hsin-Kuo insists to compose new work despite the opposition of traditional artist, including his master Zhou Zeng-Rong, and one of his famous plays is The Kingdom of Desire adapted from Macbeth in 1986.
A. The special design of the play are the music, costume and stage.
B. Macbeth is shortened and Sinicized for the sake of the length of the performance and the culture difference.
II. The lack of fund had forced Wu Hsin-Kuo to cease composing plays until
King Lear was adapted in 2001.
A. Wu Hsin-Kuo plays ten roles in the show not only for the budget but also for curtailment.
B. The adaption of King Lear is the reflection of himself.
III. In order to attract more youngsters to watch Chinese operas, in 2007, Wu
Hsin-Kuo created the rock and roll Chinese opera, the Water Marsh Series
with the playwright, Zhang Da-Chun and the composer, Emil Wakin Chau.
A. To recruit young artists involving in the revision of Chinese opera will be a significant issue.
B. The plays of Contemporary Legend Theatre break the systematic tunes, traditional clothes and simple stages and recreate a new style of
Chinese opera making Westerners realize the beauty of the Chinese art.

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Wu Hsin-Kuo: Creating a New Path for Chinese Operas
Do you know whom was praised by the promoter of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre,
Lin Hwai-Min that he is as good as Mei Lanfang making Chinese Operas well-known in Western countries ( Birdy, par.1)? Wu Hsin-Kuo was complimented by the famous dancer and is the important artist making Westerners to notice the beauty of Chinese
Operas. Because of the outmoded stories, lengthy narration and the same pattern of the loyalty and filial piety, the Chinese opera was considered as an old and stale art form; therefore, it faced a difficult circumstance to remain (Wang 134-135). Wu Hsin-
Kuo and other young Chinese Opera actors and actresses worried about the future of
Chinese Opera and founded Contemporary Legend Theater for creating a new style of operas. Wu Hsin-Kuo added the Western thinking of the reflection on the desire of humanity in the operas to complement the lack of seeking for humanity (Li 67). Wu
Hsin-Kuo adapts Western plays for Chinese Operas, and his accomplishments have a great impact for the transformation of traditional operas.
In the beginning of founding Contemporary Legend Theatre, some traditional artists were against of the combination of the new form of Chinese operas created by
Wu Hsin-Kuo, including his master, Zhou Zheng-Rong. Nevertheless, Wu Hsin-Kuo insists to compose new work despite the opposition of traditional artists, and one of

Chou 2 his famous plays is The Kingdom of Desire adapted from Macbeth in 1986.
The special design of the play are the music, costume and stage. Opening songs of traditional Chinese Operas are a kind of background music and does not relate to plots; however, the overture of The Kingdom of Desire shows the theme of the performance- the fame, wealth and honor seem like a dream (Wang 140). In addition, most of the characters in Chinese operas reveal their emotions by chanting lentos, whereas the performers in The Kingdom of Desire demonstrate their feelings by singing allegros. Hence, the specialty of new Chinese operas is having quick rhythms instead of slow rhythms to fit in with the rush space of modern people (Wang 141).
Moreover, the costume of the play is based on the Han dynasty in China (206 BC
– 220 AD) and has the unique design on each roles; in contrast with it, the traditional
Chinese operas is in accordance with Ming dynasty in China (1368–1644 AD) and the color of clothes are fixed to 5 ones, yellow, red, green, white and black (100).
Wu
Hsin-Kuo’s wife, Lin Hsiu-Wei mentioned the beautiful clothing:
“When they put on
The Kingdom of Desire in Hong Kong, people there didn't dare touch the lavish costumes because they thought they were fabulously expensive antiques (Yang par.30)! ˮ
Furthermore, the variation of lighting is the other feature in The Kingdom of

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Desire, though most of the times the stage is still arranged to be vacant in order to let performers act lively, which is similar to the traditional Chinese stage, clear and imaginative space- one table and two chairs. For instance, properties of forest in the play does not present realistically, but use the lighting to strengthen the gloomy and ghostly atmosphere. Accordingly, Wu Hsin-Kuo not only apply the technique of
Western theatre but also the art of traditional Chinese stage (Wang 142).
On the other hand, the original composition of The Kingdom of Desire, Macbeth is shortened and Sinicized for the sake of the length of the performance and the culture difference. Owing to the performance of tunes of Chinese operas, Macbeth is required to be cut a large number of plots to condense the play within 3 hours.
Regarding the script, there are 5 acts, 29 scenes in Macbeth. Nonetheless, there are only 4 acts, 13 scenes in The Kingdom of Desire. The modified story focuses on
Macbeth and curtails the storyline of Malcolm and Macduff (Wang 137). As for the attitude of watching dramas, Chinese audiences cannot endure the overlong Chinese performances, which is different from Westerners (Chang 128).
Additionally, the Contemporary Legend theatre sought the similarity between
Shakespeare and Chinese plays and vary the differences. While reading Macbeth, Wu
Hsin-Kuo thought of the traditional Chinese operas, Retribution Befalls Zi Du, for

Chou 4 both pieces spin a tale of power lust leading to the fall of a ruler (Yang par.12). Hence, he came up with the plan to revise the play. Also, the representation of ghost is emphasized in the Kingdom of Desire for the Chinese culture of ghost tales. In the end of Macbeth, the signs before the madness of Macbeth’s wife does not clearly described (Wang 145). Therefore, in the Kingdom of Desire, for Macbeth’s wife, the reason of madness is both the grief of miscarriage and the threat of the spirits.
For several years, the lack of fund had forced Wu Hsin-Kuo to cease composing plays until King Lear was adapted in 2001.
Wu Hsin-Kuo plays ten roles in the show not only for the budget but also for curtailment. Since he left the ossified military opera troupe, Lukuang National Opera in 1992, his artistic creations have less restrictions. Nevertheless, he faced the serious pressure of resources so that he needed to consider to create small performances, as King Lear (Lee 75).
Further, being a musical and physical theatre, Chinese opera cannot accommodate all Shakespearean materials within acceptable running time. By it nature this operatic theatre demands a more straightforward plot and fewer speaking roles (Lei, 265). In the revised King Lear, the characters were abridged, for example husbands of King Lear’s daughters, The Duke of Albany, The Duke of Cornwall and the King of France. As a result, the storyline stresses more on the sorrow because of

Chou 5 the unfilial children.
Although King Lear made by Contemporary Legend theatre is an adapted composition, it may be perceived as an independent work. For the reason that numerous plots are changed; the complex characters are curtailed and the adapter and performer, Wu Hsin-Kuo added himself as a role in the performance. Consequently, the modified King Lear is not the story of King
Lear, but Wu Hsin-Kuo. (Wu 22)
The primary theme of King Lear by Shakespeare is that humans are lost in the surface all the times, and finding the truth requires to encounter great difficulties.
Nonetheless, the adapted play is developed the idea to the request of the humanity
(Lee 68). King Lear, the clown, Gloucester, the betrayers, the victims are all interpreted by Wu Hsin-Kuo. As a result, what the characters say is actually the mind of King Lear, and he roared and kept finding who he is (Wu 27). Particularly, in the last scene of the play, he said: “Who am I? I am myself. I am finding myself. I am thinking of myself. I am looking at myself. I know myself. I ask myself. I hate and love myself… Will I be myself? I need to face myself. I want to find myself. (Lee
68)” The thoughts of the King Lear and Wu Hsin-Kuo are mixed together, and by story of King Lear, Wu Hsin-Kuo expressed his contradiction and enlightenment of

Chou 6 life to the audience.
In order to attract more youngsters to watch Chinese operas, in 2007, Wu Hsin-
Kuo created the rock and roll Chinese opera, the Water Marsh Series with the playwright, Zhang Da-Chun and the composer, Emil Wakin Chau. In the Water Marsh
Series, the traditional tunes of Chinese operas were chanted, and soon the rock and roll music, dancing and colorful lighting was placed. The rapid process from tradition to modern catches the breath of the audience (Shih 100). The show is targeted at the young, as Wu Hsin-Kuo said in an interview: “I hope words of the play can be more simple because this performance is created for young viewers. My wish is that the audience is able to understand the play easily. (40)”
Above all, to recruit young artists involving in the revision of Chinese opera will be a significant issue. 30 years ago, the young and enthusiastic actors and actresses of
Chinese operas founded Contemporary Legend theatre, whereas now who can take their place? Wu Hsin-Kuo remarked that the artists of Chinese Operas in Taiwan face a generation crisis so that Contemporary Legend theatre builds up a stage to practice the skills of youngsters, notably Water Marsh Series (41).
On the whole, the plays of Contemporary Legend Theatre break the systematic tunes, traditional clothes and simple stages and recreate a new style of Chinese opera

Chou 7 making Westerners realize the beauty of the Chinese art. Yet, some critics give the comments that aspects of the compositions are unclear and the traditional parts of
Chinese operas are not enough. Still, Wu Hsin-Kuo’s intercultural adaptions is the innovative interpretation of Western classics and arouse people’s attention on the dying art. Indeed, Wu Hsin-Kuo and his works play an important role for the history of Chinese Operas.

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Works Cited
1.
楊齡媛
(Ling-Yuan Yang)
，
"Lone Wolf" of the Opera-- Contemporary Legend Theater, 20 Years On
〉
2007
年
2
月
2.
王亮潔
(Liang-jie Wiang)
，〈台灣京劇的跨文化改編─以當代傳奇劇場《慾望
城國》為例〉，臺藝戲劇學刊
， 2007
年
10
月
，
第
3
期，頁
132-152 。
3.
施德玉
(De-Yu Shin) ， BUMP
Into the Contemporary Legend Theater-after Seeing ＂ 108 Heroes-Tales from Water Margin
〉，藝術欣賞，
2007
年
12
月
， 3
卷
6
期，頁
100
4.
雷碧琦
(Bi-Qi Beatrice Lei)
，〈孝辨：《李爾王》的戲曲類比與改編
(Vision and
Revision of Filial Piety Analogues and Adaptations of King Lear in Chinese
Opera)
〉，戲劇研究，
2008
年
1
月，第
1
期，頁
253-282 。
5.
張珩
(Heng Chang)
，〈試論戲曲現代化－以當代傳奇《夢蝶》探之〉，跨界對
談五 表演藝術研究所學術研討會論文集，
2008
年
6
月，第
5
屆，頁
118-
130 。
6.
〈美哉京劇服裝——淺探京劇服裝色彩及圖案的藝術特點〉
2009
年，第
7
期，頁
100
7.
吳岳霖
(Yueh-Lin Wu)
，〈重新發聲與自我對話－從《李爾在此》「再論」當代
傳 奇 劇 場
(Re-evaluating Contemporary Legend Theater from Lear Is
Here.)
〉，國立臺灣藝術大學戲劇學系 2011 年研究生學術研討會論文集
(下冊)，
2011
年
5
月，頁
20-43 。

8.
李偉
(Wei Li) ，
(Taking Chinese Technique for Practice on the Basis of Western Culture: The
Intercultural Theatre Experiments of Wu Xingguo's Contemporary Legend
Theatre)
〉，戲劇藝術，
2011
年
8
月，第
4
期，頁
66-75 。
9. Birdy
,〈吳興國：京劇傳統，照亮當代〉，
TED Taipei ， 2014
年
3
月
<http://tedxtaipei.com/2014/03/2013-hsing-kuo-wu/>
10.
小禮， ，戲曲品味，
2014
年，第 1
60
期，頁
40-41