Wang, Chongxian
(1888-1937) : Regisseur
Subjects
Index of Names : China
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Literature : China : Drama and Theatre
Chronology Entries (3)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1905 | Gründung der Wen you hui (Society of Literary Fellows) durch Wang Chongxian. |
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| 2 | 1906 | Gründung der Kai ming yan ju hui (Enlightenment Drama Troup) durch Wang Chongxian und Zhu Shuangyuan. |
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| 3 | 1920 |
Aufführung 16. und 17. Okt. 1920 von Mrs. Warren's profession = Hualun fu ren zhi zhi ye von George Bernard Shaw im Xin Wu Tai Theatre (New Shanghai Theatre) unter der Regie von Wang Chongxian ; Wang als Vivie, mit den Schauspielern Xia Yueren, Xia Yuesan und Zhou Fengwen in Mandarin Chinese. Advertisements in Shen bao : 14., 16., 17. Okt. 1920. Other advertisements in Xin wen bao, Shi shi xin bao, Xin shen bao, Min guo re bao. "The first Western play on the Chinese stage : is Mrs. Warren's profession ; is the most famous play in the new century ; is the play that must be watched by women worldwide." Unique in the newspaper advertisements for Shaw's play is, that two advertisements for Mrs. Warrens profession were placed on the same page, nearly side by side. Shaw first came to the attention of progressive Chinese intellectuals at a time when the general desire for social and cultural reforms was strong. Drama was recognized as an effective medium for disseminating new ideas and for mobilizing people in their efforts to reform backward traditions. Dramatists like Henrik Ibsen and Shaw were greatly admired for their unconventional views and iconoclastic spirit. Mrs. Warren's profession was to prove an extraordinary event in the world of Chinese drama. Virtually all the participants were important figures in the dramatic profession, and all were enthusiastic advocates of the New Drama. Wang Chongxian was known as a staunch drama reformer who had started experimenting with the civilized New Drama. The opening night for the production was set for a Saturday. When the curtain fell, three-quarters of the audience was gone. The second night was no better. Analyzing the causes of this failure, Wang Chongxian noted that the main factors were the audience, the players, and the media. First, the audience had been ill-prepared for such a play and had difficulty understanding it because the audience had no generic context within which to situate the play. Some members of the audience were unable to understand Shaw's play at all ; others could understand a little, but not enough to sustain their interest ; and the rest could follow the plot but had trouble finding any real meaning in the play. Second, the players, being new to an authentic Western play and not having been trained in a realistic tradition of acting, did a poor job. Third, the media were unsupportive. Most of the papers honored the occasion by ignoring the play altogether, and only a few carried review consisting the superficial flattering comments. "This was our first experiment, but we picked too difficult a play with which to challenge the audience ; and they afterwards complained about their inability to understand it. We have ourselves to blame." In traditional Chinese drama, the audience at least had a visual spectacle to watch and music and singing to. Song Chunfang complained "there are only six people in the play who engage in mundane conversation for four and a half hours. At the beginning of the play, Vivie and Praed talk trivially for nearly 30 minutes. In the third scene, Mrs. Warren and Vivie talk for an hour." Wang Chongxian summarized the lessons he learned from the production of Mrs. Warren's profession : "Our future principle should be : we cannot always cater to the expectations of the general populace, nor can we cater to the needs of the highly-educated few. Instead, we must select simple, new ideas and weave them into an interesting and entertaining plot ; in this way we will produce a play which the audience find so engaging that they will want to see it from the beginning to the end." After his failed production, Wang Chongxian concluded in Yu chuang zao xin ju zhu jun shang que, that borrowing famous Western plays is one of the methods to be used in China's transitional state, it should not represent the true spirit for the creation of plays. To find a place in world literature, Chinese plays needed different scriptwriting talents as well as several genres of drama that would be equal to or of higher value than Western plays. Kay Li : Ideology was a dominant issue in the introduction to China of Mrs. Warren's profession. The obvious reason for the choice of Mrs. Warren's profession is that these later plays of Shaw dealt more with individuals than with society, and Shaw's esoteric creed of the Life Force and Creative Evolution seemed more remote to the Chinese audience. The transmission of Shaw's first translated and published play to China was partial. The Chinese became more and more aware of the need to go beyond linguistic translation to a cultural translation in order to make Shaw's plays comprehensible to Chinese readers and audiences. Some aspects transcend cultural barriers more easily than others. Since content demands more cultural translation than form, genres such as the essay and discussion play were more readily received. These provided the tools for the young Chinese intellectuals to criticize society and propose changes to build a better society, whereas the cultural content of Mrs. Warren's profession remain4ed alien to Chinese sensibilities. The failure of the 1920 production had a far-reaching influence on modern Chinese drama. Wang Chongxian argued, that the performances drew attention to the need for new adaptations in Chinese drama to accommodate China's new sociocultural ideals and the needs of a Chinese audience. Wang Chongxian explained that the first Chinese production of Mrs. Warren's profession was the first encounter between purely realist Western drama and Chinese society and the first meeting between New Culture Drama and Chinese society. |
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