Hamulaite

Alternative title
Hamlet
Synopsis
Video recording of a stage performance of Hamlet given at the Beijing People’s Arts Theatre. ‘Lin Zhaohua adopted a radical approach in staging his Hamlet in Beijing by abandoning the orthodox "Western look" make-up, wigs, prosthetic noses and "doublet and hose" costumes in order to portray Hamlet as "one of us," an urban Beijing man in the late-twentieth century...Lin explained that Hamlet was "neither a prince who seeks revenge for the sake of justice nor a hero of humanism. What we are facing is ourselves. To face oneself is the most active and courageous attitude modern people can possibly assume"... Lin used the device of switching key character parts among a number of actors. For instance, at certain points in the performance the two actors who predominantly played Hamlet and Claudius abruptly interchanged roles, at another moment the actor playing Polonius temporarily assumed the character of Hamlet, and the soliloquy "To be, or not to be,..." (1710-42) was shared by all three of these actors’. [Li Ruru. Hamlet in China: Translation, Interpretation and Performance at http://www.leoyan.com/global-language.com/ENFOLDED/BIBL/____HamChi.htm].
Language
Chinese - Mandarin (PRC)
Country
China
Medium
Video
Technical information
Colour / Sound
Recording date
1989

Credits

Director
Zhaohua Lin
Cast
Guanhua LiangHamlet
Guanhua LiangClaudius
Fan XuGertrude
Xaioya ChenOphelia

Additional Details

Theatre company
Beijing People’s Art Theatre
Production type
Stage Recordings
Historical period
1980s
Plays
Hamlet
Subjects
Drama
Keywords
Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Doubling of roles

Notes

Notes
World Shakespeare Bibliography notes that the production was released on DVD in 2008 by the Beijing Culture and Art Video Press. No contact for the organisation has been found (5/2009).
General
When government subsidies to drama companies were cut due to radical economic reforms in the late 1980s, Lin founded his ‘Workshop’ company, which first mounted Hamlet in a small studio at the Beijing Film Institute.
Reviews
For a detailed discussion of this performance see Li Ruru, Shashibiya: Staging Shakespeare in China. Hong Kong University Press, 2003. pp 83-99.

Archive

Name

Folger Shakespeare Library

Email
reference@folger.edu
Web
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(202) 544 4600
Fax
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Address
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Washington
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How to cite this record

Shakespeare, "Hamulaite". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av66991 (Accessed 26 Nov 2024)