“From 'Anna Christie' to 'An Di'” (Publication, 1985)
Year
1985
Text
Zou, Ting. From 'Anna Christie' to 'An Di'. In : Chinese literature ; no 2 (Summer 1985). [Betr. Eugene O'Neill]. (One52)
Type
Publication
Mentioned People (1)
O'Neill, Eugene
(New York, N.Y. 1888-1953 Kap Cod bei Boston) : Dramatiker, Nobelpreisträger
Subjects
Literature : Occident : United States of America
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References / Sources
Chronology Entries (1)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1984.10.16-21 |
Performance of Andi : Adapation of Anna Christie by Eugene O'Neill. Produced by the Chinese Theatre Association in Beijing, Lui Housheng, president, in association with the Central Dramatic Academy ; adapted by Huang Zongjiang ; directed by George C. White. Ma Shu Yun as Anna and Bao Guo An as Old Chris. Broadcasted by the China Central Television Network. Andi has been sent to Harbin, rather than St. Paul, Minnesota, when her mother died. Her father was now a Fujian sailor and her irish suitor a catholic convert from Canton. Huang Zongjiang explained how he had produced the adaptation : "I have admired the great Ameri¬can dramatist Eugene O'Neill since my youth. When I visited O'Neill's birthplace in the summer of 1980, I had the honour of meeting George White, chairman of the O'Neill Thea¬tre Centre, who expressed to me the hope that he might help direct Anna Christie in China. Four years later, his wish came true. It was a most exciting prospect. Long ago George White asked me to adapt Anna Chri¬stie into a play with a Chinese fla¬vour. I was very hesitant, although earlier adaptations of other foreign dramas into Chinese had been successful…Although the characters and plot in Anna Christie might be found in China, their thoughts, language and features were different, and I was afraid it would not be easy to adapt. But I greatly admired White's wish to sinicize the play and could not refuse him. So, with the help of the teachers and students at the Central Institute of Drama, I made an adaptation based on the original English version and a Chinese translation. However, I didn't produce it until it came time for rehearsal. Is has its imperfections. This is 'a Western meal eaten in the Chinese manner'. I don't need to say any more about its significance, but there is one thing I would like to add : a vast ocean separates our two peoples, but it links us together too, and I bless each of the white sails on it." George C. White : "It is impossible to adequately express my feelings toward the experience I had directing Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie in Beijing. Aside from the exotic aspect of the venture itself, the excitement of accepting and meeting a challenge of formidable proportions, it was the window through which I was permitted to view a theatrical world strangely similar yet totally different from our own, a world burgeoning with rejuvenated enthusiasm following the fallow years of the so called 'Cultural revolution'. It is a world interested in retaining much of its ancient past, yet anxious to push on into the era of modern drama. In 1980 we had been invited by the Chinese Theater Association to become acquainted with the contemporary Chinese theater scene with the long view of fostering theatrical exchange. In succeeding summers (with the exception of 1982), the O'Neill Center hosted Chinese delegations, all of which were led by noted playwright and film writer Huang Zongjiang. In the fall of 1983 I was officially invited by Mr. Liu Housheng, director of the Chinese Theater Association to direct an O'Neill play of my choice in Beijing the following October. Based on my experience in 1980 and discussion with Mr. Huang, Anna Christie seemed the logical choice. I felt that the story of an old sailor forced to send his only daughter away, unable to care for her after her mother's death, and her subsequent decline into prostitution would strike a responsive and sympathetic chord in audiences only a generation away from the feudal era in China when daughters were sold to landlords or houses of prostitution as preferable alternatives to starvation. In Act three, Anna, in an impulsive moment of passion toward Matt Burke, takes his head in both her hands and holds his face close to hers, staring into his eyes. Then she kisses him full on the lips. This moment would be a problem. The solution to the problem finally lay in the fact that we were doing a Chinese adaptation. Not only is kissing never done on a Chinese stage, it would never be done to a lover by a daughter in front of her father. I concluded that a passionate embrace would serve the same dramatic function ." |
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Cited by (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2000- | Asien-Orient-Institut Universität Zürich | Organisation / AOI |
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