Cover Ng Hing-kwok as Julius Caesar (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)
Ng Hing-kwok as Julius Caesar (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)
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Led by Taiwanese theatre director Ng Hing-kwok, who’s sometimes hailed as Taiwan’s Orson Welles, this cross-genre production of ‘Julius Caesar’ blends Chinese opera with Shakespeare, reflecting contemporary politics
In January this year, if you were headed to Jingan District Cultural Centre in Shanghai, you could have run into what looked exactly like a rehearsal for a traditional Chinese opera. Actor Zhang Jun, who specialises in kunqu, one of the oldest forms of Chinese opera, could be seen flipping the water sleeves of his outfit and striding around the room like a general, while Taiwanese theatre director Ng Hing-kwok sang his lines in a roaring voice with the authority of an emperor. It might look like Chinese opera—but in reality they were putting together a cross-genre production of William Shakespeare’s drama Julius Caesar, which narrates the tale of the Roman general’s rise and fall.
Coming to Hong Kong on February 22 as part of Hong Kong Arts Festival, this production blends western theatrical elements with Peking opera and kunqu. While the set will be minimalistic, this new Julius Caesar is in no way a simple production.
Read more: Performing arts 101: What is xiqu or Chinese opera?
Above From left: Zhang Jun and Ng Hing-kwok rehearsing in Shanghai (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
From left: Zhang Jun and Ng Hing-kwok rehearsing in Shanghai (Photo: Tatler Hong Kong)
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For starters, the team, with the help of Beatrice Lei, the chair of scholarly platform Asian Shakespeare Association, translated the Elizabethan English play into Chinese, and abridged it to a version fit for two actors. “We changed the script at least six to seven times before arriving at where we are,” Ng says. Then, the director of Academic Committee of Shanghai Conservatory of Music Shuya Xu came up with an original score in Chinese opera-style for the production. “It’s also rare to put kunqu and Peking opera, which have different styles and vocal ranges, together on the same stage,” says Ng.
Ng says all this effort isn’t just for the sake of coming up with something new. “Of course, no one can deny your artistic abilities when you have perfected your skill in your own art form, but that doesn’t mean it’s enough,” he says. “If we don’t keep an innovative mindset, we’ll only be repeating the same existing productions, and the arts will go nowhere. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong about preserving traditional art forms. It’s just like protecting relics in our Palace Museum. But people should never stop looking for new possibilities.”
In his 37 years of putting on east-meets-west productions at Contemporary Legend Theatre, Ng has adapted many western classics such as Shakespeare’s other plays, Goethe’s Faust, Kafka’s Metamorphosis and ancient Greek tragedy The Oresteia. These were mostly performed in the style of Peking opera, but Ng would also sometimes collaborate with artists from other genres such as rock music and street dance.
Above “Julius Caesar” (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)
“Julius Caesar” (Photo: courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)
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While Ng’s productions have been showcased at several international festivals, such as the National Theatre in London, Edinburgh International Festival and Festival Paris Summer, not all of his productions were well received by everyone, especially Chinese opera purists. In his earlier years, Ng had been shunned by his own master Zheng-rong Zhou, one of Taiwan’s most respected Peking opera actors, and members of the Peking opera industry in Taiwan. But Ng pursued steadfastly with his innovative approach to traditional opera, believing it’s the only way through which this sunset industry can survive and that performing arts is the best platform for cross-cultural, cross-generational dialogues.
Shakespeare’s works remain one of his favourites to adapt. “His plays are meaningful and there’s a lot of wisdom within. He was brave in his time to put on Julius Caesar during Queen Elizabeth’s time,” referring to how the events in Caesar’s life, as highlighted in the production, mirror the political shifts and instability in Elizabethan England. “Shakespeare captured how we connect with the real world.”
Through his interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic play, Ng also wants to reflect the politics of current times. “This old play repeats itself in history. Today, we’re facing [power politics during] the pandemic and Ukraine war. What new lessons can we learn from the play?”
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
