Shakespeare Comes to China

About ten months ago, in February, my dear friend,
John Kenny, told me about his theatre company, TNT, and their touring production of Romeo & Juliet. When he said they would be touring China, I never dreamed I would be here to see it. However, when I had made my decision to come to China, one of the first things I looked forward to was that I might actually have that chance.

So, here I am, having already spent seven months in China, and I have had this on my calendar ever since I arrived. I’d circled and highlighted this date so that I wouldn’t miss it. Originally, when I was still teaching at RQA, I thought I might be able to organize a school field trip and take all of my students. Unfortunately, that hope has long since been dashed. Instead, I came by myself. There is something to be said, though, about sitting alone in a theatre, in the dark.

I got to the venue (the Theatre in Zhejiang Museum of Art 浙江省群艺馆小剧场) an hour early to purchase my tickets. Don’t be fooled by its title. Being the third theatre I’ve been to here in Hangzhou, I have to say I am rather disappointed in these ‘temples of the arts.’ It doesn’t seem at all like China takes pride in their theatres. Then again, I could be a bit of a snob.

Apart from their being no heat, it felt cold in design. It was just as dirty as most building, and the proscenium arch was as unadorned as the front door to my apartment. The stage itself looked like nothing more than pressed wood paneling – the sort you expect to find on the walls in your parents’ basement if it had last been decorated in the 1970s. The walls were boring white plaster and the seats reminded me of those in an old public high school auditorium – or a baseball stadium.

What baffles me perhaps the most about Chinese entertainment venues is that, when you go to a movie theatre here, you pay the same price for any seat, even though it is assigned seating. However, for the theatrical or musical performances I have attended, there has been no assigned seating. It is first-come-first-served. And yet, the prices for tickets range from 60 yuan (which is always sold out) to anywhere upwards of 300 yuan. What is the point in different prices, if you’re not paying for a seat worth the price? I paid 100 yuan for my ticket tonight and, because I got to the theatre early, I picked a great seat. But what about the poor bastard who pays 300 and gets there five minutes before curtain rises and has to sit in the last row, with all those heads in front of him? The logic just doesn’t quite work out for me.

What surprised me this evening was the small amount of foreigners in attendance. I expected more. But since there were Chinese subtitles displayed on a screen, stage right and left, I’m glad people took advantage of it. It’s great to see Shakespeare reaching as far east as it has. Dude knew how to go global. Consequently, I also wonder about the translation. What must it sound like to the Chinese? After all, even for native English speakers, there can sometimes be a language barrier between late 16th century iambic pentameter and 21st century colloquial speech. Is the Chinese translation in poetry? Do they use tradition or simplified characters? I could not really tell the difference, but I can’t imagine using traditional Han, simply because it is my belief that most Chinese are more literate in the simplified.

To speak to the performance itself, I must smile. The actors kept up a great deal of energy (special regards to the bloke who played both Capulet and Benvolio), despite having to deal with a difficult audience. Incidentally, what the hell are people thinking when they bring a baby to staged Shakespeare? The infant could not have been six months old yet. Are the parents banking on osmosis? The kid will magically grow up able to speak in rhymed verse? And seriously, folks. Have some damn courtesy for the actors and switch your frigging cell phones off! I was embarrassed and wished I could apologize to the cast. This is when courtesy and etiquette take its cultural toll on my nerves. It’s just plain rude.

Nevertheless, I’m extremely glad I went and I say hats off to the TNT theatre company. Some extremely promising talent and choice bits of directing. Blocking was some of the best I’ve seen and the minimal materials, sets and props, were well used. Well done, all.