Rethinking Chekhov's work in modern Chinese productions

Ma Zihan Postgraduate student, Department of History of Western European and Russian Culture, St. Petersburg State University 199034, Russia, g. Saint Petersburg, liniya Mendeleevskaya, 5 dramazihan@gmail.com

The topic of the influence of the outstanding Russian playwright Anton Pavlovich Chekhov on the Chinese theater is of great interest for research. Currently, there are a number of serious publications in science that mainly address the history of translations of Chekhov's work into Chinese and highlight the problems and history of adaptation of the playwright's works on the Chinese stage. Among the most interesting works on this subject are the publications of Li Xiang ^{[1, 2]}, Y.S. Mylnikova ^[12], the final qualifying work of Jianhua Zhang ^[4], the scientific works of Zhang Zhaosheng ^[6], Zhu Mengshi ^[7], E.K. Shulunova ^[8], etc. The present study addresses the modern stage of understanding Chekhov's works in China and aims to analyze a number of experimental productions of the early XX century, tracing innovative methods of adaptation by Chinese theatrical figures of the Russian writer's work on the Chinese stage.

In September 2004 , the National Drama Theater  China^[1] presented the first international drama festival called "Chekhov Forever". The festival lasted a month. The event was opened by the play "Platonov"^[2], Chekhov's little-known first play staged by Wang Xiaoying. In addition, two versions of The Cherry Orchard staged by Lin Zhaohua (1936) and the Russian State Academic Theater were shown. The following works were also presented at the festival: the production of the Israeli Cameri Theater "Requiem", based on Chekhov's works, short sketches by the Canadian Smith-Gilmore Theater and original works by young directors and actors of the National Drama Theater of China, based on the work of A.P. Chekhov.

Zhao Yuliang, president of the National Drama Theater of China, said that the organization of this international festival dedicated to the legacy of the outstanding Russian writer has two goals. The first was to promote communication between Chinese theatrical and dramatic circles and foreign masters of drama. The second goal was to provide new opportunities for creative self-realization of young actors and playwrights who are the future of the National Theater of China ^[9].

Shakespeare and Chekhov are two of the most beloved and sought–after playwrights in the world. Shakespeare wrote about three dozen plays, which is enough to fill the company's repertoire for decades. Chekhov, on the other hand, wrote relatively few plays, but not only his plays, but also short stories, to this day, again and again generate countless adaptations in theaters around the world.

It is noteworthy that by the beginning of the XXI century neither Shakespeare nor Chekhov had become part of the regular repertoire of Chinese theaters. Lin Zhaohua, the most famous theater director in China today, at a press conference dedicated to the opening of the Chekhov Forever festival, was the first to express regret that Shakespeare and Chekhov are not being staged in Chinese theaters ^[9]. Thanks to the activities of the National Drama Theater of China, Beijing viewers were finally able to appreciate the great works of the Russian playwright.

The fact that few Chekhov works have been staged in China does not mean that the great figure does not influence Chinese theatrical figures. The playwright Cao Yu (1910-1996), the first director of the Beijing People's Art Theater, wrote in the epilogue to his work "Sunrise"^[3] in 1936: "I remember how a few years ago I was fascinated by Chekhov's profound art when I read "Three Sisters". How his story touched me... There is no dramatic plot in it, the action unfolds smoothly, but the bright roles and their soul hooked me... I can't breathe, but I'm immersed in this gloomy atmosphere. I want to officially become a disciple of the great master in order to learn from him."^[4]

Another Chinese playwright Jiao Juyin (1905-1975) considered the Russian playwright and novelist the pinnacle of taste in art and literature. According to Jiao Juyin, it was Chekhov's work that became the starting point in his own creative path. "I started directing in a unique way: it wasn't Stanislavsky who helped me understand Chekhov, but Chekhov who helped me understand Stanislavsky."^[5]

Modern Chinese playwrights remain interested in Chekhov's work, considering him an inexhaustible source of inspiration. New approaches to the interpretation of the works of an outstanding Russian literary figure are also emerging. According to Raymond Zhou, Chekhov's play and the play about him form an exciting pair that makes it possible to bring together the great talent of the Russian literary genius and the Chinese attitude ^[13].

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov occupies a special place in the work of modern Chinese theater-goers. Often they prefer to stage his not very well-known plays, including very short ones. It would be an exaggeration to say that the popularity of the Russian literary figure in the Middle Kingdom is comparable, say, to Shakespeare, not to mention the inimitable Chinese playwrights such as Lao She (1899-1966) and Cao Yu (1910 - 1996). But Stan Lai (1954-) seems keen to change that.

Stan Lai, a well–known playwright and director not only in China, but also outside the country, implemented an interesting project in Beijing in 2014, within the framework of which two productions were combined - "I take you by the Hand" by Carol Rocamora based on the love correspondence between Chekhov and Olga Knipper and "The Seagull" by Chekhov. The first performance began at 16:00, after a break, the second performance took place. After completing the three-day show in Beijing, Stan Lai went on a nationwide tour with this show.

The first performance starring Jiang Wenli and Sun Qiang tells about the last six years of the Russian playwright's life with frequent references to his various plays, often with Olga Knipper, Chekhov's wife, in the title role. In accordance with Stan Lai's idea, the production became a fascinating study of the connection of family relations and the creative path of a genius, as a result, the performance simultaneously has an intimate sound and embodies the picture of the great theater scene of Russia of Chekhov's time.

Two famous actors were able to show a subtle change of mood and dynamics, demonstrating vivid transitions from passion to longing, suffering and submission, especially when bouts of illness involve in the darkness of death, and the Grim Reaper turns long separations into eternity. This production was presented in Taiwan in 2004 and in Shanghai in 2006. The play was given the Chinese name "Love Letters" because the content is based on more than 800 letters that Chekhov and Olga wrote to each other.

To properly appreciate the smallest details of a 90-minute play, a Chinese viewer may need to get acquainted with the life and work of Chekhov. And at the same time, even untrained viewers, people who do not have prior knowledge, cannot help but be imbued with the story of the amazing love between the writer and the actress that underlies this unique stage project.

The Seagull, one of Chekhov's four great plays, is much less accessible. To someone who is not familiar with the subtleties of theatrical art, the work may seem too calm, devoid of dramatic tension. The play is full of dialogues, while it is quite static in terms of action, and the drama, consisting of love twists and turns and the suicide of a novice writer, seems to be pushed into the background. "The Seagull" has been staged many times in China, primarily by the Beijing People's Art Theater. The premiere took place in 1991 . The Russian director was engaged in directing the play for the Beijing People's Art Theater, in addition, famous people from show business in China were involved, including the hopeful at that time, and now famous Pu Cunxin and Xu Fan, who acted, respectively, in the roles of Konstantin and Nina. This premiere became a vivid example of the classic reading of the play, partly because the director was initially guided by Soviet approaches to its comprehension and staging.

In 2013, the Shanghai Center for Dramatic Art invited Soviet, Latvian and Russian director Adolf Yakovlevich Shapiro (1939) to stage Uncle Vanya. He was considered the true heir and continuer of the traditions of the Stanislavsky theater school. The irony is that in the biographical play "I will take your Hand in mine", one can find a lot of evidence that Chekhov was often not enthusiastic about Stanislavsky's approaches. Russian Russian masters of dramaturgy may have brought more authenticity, Russian approaches to reading Chekhov. However, the Chinese public and theatrical and dramatic circles needed something more. To capture the sophistication and depth of Chekhov, it was necessary to pass his work through the prism of perception of Chinese consciousness. For Chekhov's deep adaptation to the Chinese worldview, a special genius was needed. Stan Lai fully demonstrated a brilliant reading of the work of the Russian playwright with a national and cultural flavor, transferring the action of "The Seagull" to the suburbs of Shanghai in the 1930s. At the same time, the director carefully preserves the meaning of each line of the original play, despite the fact that the dialogues are translations from a foreign language. Thanks to Stan Lai's approach, the essence of the play begins to reveal itself even to those who are not familiar with Russian history or literature, in all its nuances and tonalities. What used to seem outlandish now makes sense. Semitones are no longer lost.

The appearance of this production was preceded by the interpretation of "The Seagull", carried out by Yang Shen. In 2009, the director staged a version of Chekhov's play for a small theater. The work underwent a serious adaptation in accordance with the fact that Yang Shen sought to ridicule the theatrical scene of China and those who dream of entering this circle. This production was regarded as a personal manifesto formulated by referring to Chekhov's classic work. In China, Chekhov is read rather than put on stage. His literary work has gained many fans in China, but his plays are more revered than accepted ^[13]. "Three Sisters" and "Uncle Vanya" were presented in Beijing back in the 1950s, and "The Seagull" - in the 1980s. "There weren't many people in the hall, and more than half of them left during the intermission," recalls Tong Daoming (1937–), a well-known theater critic and translator. However, at an early stage of familiarization of Chinese society with the work of the Russian writer, among his few admirers was Cao Yu, the undisputed Chinese master of the theater. After reading The Three Sisters, he highly appreciated that the center of the narrative was not dramatic moments, a narrative component, but living characters, living souls who can not leave anyone indifferent, deeply penetrating into the heart of the viewer.

During the "cultural revolution" (1966-1976), the poet Liu Shah had to burn his collection of Chekhov's books. In despair and sadness, he composed the following lines: "I can't keep you / I can't hide you. I'm throwing you in the oven tonight. Goodbye, Chekhov. You, with a mustache and glasses, smile at me / I cry from the smoke of the evaporating and departing light / Goodbye, Chekhov!" ^[13] How great changes have occurred since that time. 2004 was declared the "Year of Chekhov" by UNESCO. A month-long festival of Chekhov's plays took place in China, including touring productions from Israel and Canada were presented to the general public. The Russian version of The Cherry Orchard was shown in parallel with the Chinese production staged by Lin Zhaohua, with the participation of Jiang Wenli. This production by an outstanding representative of the Chinese theatrical avant-garde turned out to be much more successful than his 1998 work, in which Lin Zhaohua combined "Three Sisters" and "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett.

In 1998, having created a hybrid work based on Chekhov's short story "Three Sisters" and Beckett's novel "Waiting for Godot", the director sought to stage an experimental play, which at that time turned out to be a failure – the Chinese audience did not understand it and did not accept it. In 1998, "only 12 of the 30 planned performances were played, and even then the halls were half empty" ^[6]. Subsequently, for many years, this idea did not leave the director, and finally, in September 2018, the premiere of Lin Zhaohua's production took place in Beijing. This became possible after the play was played 60 times in 44 cities of China since the end of 2017 ^[11].

Lin Zhaohua began work on his production in the late 90s, when he was recovering from an illness. The creation of this performance cost the director and his friend, a theater artist and Limin, a sum of money that would have been enough to buy a car, which was a luxury in China at that time. Despite the monetary losses of twenty years ago, 82-year-old Lin Zhaohua did everything again to return his experimental play to the younger generation of Chinese theater-goers. Curiously, compared to the 1998 version, the production itself has hardly changed, we can say that it has again become a test of the patience of the modern public – because of the long incoherent dialogues and the faded and expressionless scenery that does not change ^[11].

In the play, three sisters — Olga, Masha and Irina — sit in the center of the stage in a room made of metal frames, white curtains and without real walls. Every woman talks about her life experience with almost no emotions, they rarely look into each other's eyes. The play also features two Beckett characters, Vladimir and Estragon, waiting for Godot and chatting aimlessly to kill time. Sometimes this male duo transforms, and at the request of the director, Vladimir and Estragon become Vershinin and Tuzenbach, who fall in love with Masha and Irina in Chekhov's original work.

A "river" flows through the hall, the reflection of which can be seen in the mirrors on the ceiling where the performance is taking place. Although sometimes Vershinin and Tuzenbach "walk along the river", they can never get into the room, and the three sisters, meanwhile, never try to leave it.

In the play, Lin Zhaohua minimized direct communication between the characters and asked the actresses and actors to speak the same way as in everyday life. On this occasion, Ye Shulin, a doctoral student at the Shanghai Theater Academy, makes an interesting observation: in "Three Sisters" Chekhov wanted to demonstrate that people cannot communicate with each other, whereas in "Waiting for Godot" there is a "language collapse". Iconic lines from two original stories – "let's go to Moscow" and "we are waiting for Godot" are repeated many times throughout the performance.

According to many Chinese intellectuals, the public "could not understand" this play twenty years ago, was not ready for its perception. This opinion, for example, is held by Xi Mulian, who staged a version of "Three Sisters Waiting for Godot" at Peking University in 2011. In 1998, despite the lack of interest in the production of Lin Zhaohua among the mass audience, some Chinese intellectuals turned out to have a very high opinion of her.

Writer and critic Li To considered this play the best in Lin Zhaohua's career. Peng Tao, a professor of dramatic literature at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, wrote in 2008 that the play showed Lin Zhaohua's deep reflection and creative search as an artist, he also called the play a production in the "spirit of Don Quixote" ^[11]. Stan Lai's judgments on the difficulties of Chekhov's adaptation in China differ in depth. During the preparation of his doctoral dissertation at the University of California, Berkeley, Lai came to the conclusion that "Chekhov is not very accessible. Those who truly understand him will discover that he was an avant-gardist, especially if we look back 100 years ago and look at his era... today's avant-garde pales next to him. They imitate the facade, but Chekhov is a pioneer of dramatic structure. To see its beauty, you need to take a step back" ^[13].

The play "Hong Kong Three Sisters" is one of the attempts of the Alice Theater Laboratory to explore the possibilities of minimalism in art. In January 2017, a new experimental adaptation of Anton Pavlovich Chekhov's novel "Three Sisters" was presented, which attracted great attention to the modern theater scene in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, where live performances are very popular, and the audience loves everything exaggerated and spectacular, the laboratory team is moving, apparently, in the opposite direction. This is evidenced by the "Hong Kong Three Sisters", a production that is one of a series of theatrical projects, the idea of which is to remove all unnecessary, alluvial, and get to the bottom of it. The project of studying minimalism in the performing arts leads the creators of the "Hong Kong Three Sisters" to abandon props, antique costumes, even significant fragments of the original author's text, if necessary, in order to adhere only to the most significant and necessary.

In "The Hong Kong Three Sisters" Chekhov's most famous play of 1900 "Three Sisters" is played at a very high speed, while the production is supplemented with new material. The play, according to director Andrew Chan, "organically took shape" during two and a half months of careful reading of Chekhov, reflection on the topic of what he read, as well as during the reading of works by minimalists, such as the American writer Raymond Carver ^[10]. The production also refers to Louis Mallet's 1994 film Vanya on 42nd Street, in which the actors rehearse Chekhov's Uncle Vanya in an abandoned hall on 42nd Street in New York, bringing part of their non-acting image into it. Andrew Chan also positions "The Hong Kong Three Sisters" as a play that is forever rehearsed and can never be finished. Although the director claims that twentieth-century modernists such as Beckett and Carver, known for the experimental and sometimes confusing nature of their work, are the source of his inspiration in directing, Chen nevertheless considers it an important task to reformat Chekhov's play and fill it with stories from the life of modern Hong Kong, which are served as if from the faces of Chekhov himself. "Chekhov's plays often don't have closed endings at all," Chan says. "They end abruptly, leaving the audience at a moment when they would still like to know more about what happened to the characters. It's a bit like what Italian director Federico Fellini said: "There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the passion of life" ^[10].

Actress Phoebe Fung finds it quite a challenge to show the full range of emotions that she should portray in "Hong Kong Three Sisters". She plays a deeply controversial character – a passionate middle sister Masha, in love with Vershinin, who is much older than her. Like the rest of the actors, she also plays a double role — the heroine of Chekhov's original play and the actress rehearsing the role. In his acting image, Fung plays a real estate developer agent Sue, who unwittingly deceives her clients. She is haunted by surreal nightmares about Hong Kong going under the hammer, and the heads of powerful powers making their bids at auction. Sue identifies herself with Masha in that she also doesn't quite understand what her purpose in life is.

According to the plot, director Kwong puts Chekhov's "Three Sisters" using an avant-garde approach. During the rehearsal, one of the actors disappears. The rehearsal stops, followed by dialogues between the director and the actors, revealing the other side of the actors' lives and the life of Hong Kong as a whole.

Shades of sexual tension between the characters of Chekhov's play are transferred to the relationship between the actors, these intersections resonate with the repetitive musical compositions of minimalists, such as, for example, composer Philip Glass, another favorite of director Andrew Chan. For example, Kwong (played by Chau Ka-fai), the director of the production, he is also an actor playing Masha Vershinin's lover, appears to be a wealthy man trying to help a somewhat impulsive Sue make a reasonable choice in life and career.

Natasha, the wife of Andrei, the only brother of three sisters, is perhaps the most unpleasant character in Chekhov's play. She is also the character who undergoes the greatest transformations. From a shy, guileless bride  Andrey Natasha turns into a confident hostess, who usually has the last word. Yuen Wai-ying, who plays this heroine, says that her Natasha clearly intersects with the parallel role of Hilda, an actress who teaches medicine as her main job. The heroine urges her students to be more active and proactive, to stand up in the face of adversity, as does Chekhov's Natasha.

Staging a play within a play is a technique that allows people involved in the production to conduct some introspection, in addition, it is an opportunity to tell the audience about the director's vision of the production. The director of this performance in the play refers to Chekhov's creative concepts, not following the time-tested realistic method of playing, but using tools and techniques appropriate to modernity.

This theatrical project of the laboratory is largely focused on Hong Kong youth, conveying dissatisfaction with the modern life of society, the inconsistency of public life. Although there are tragedies in Chekhov's original play, it also embodies the desire to overcome losses, adversities and misfortunes, to start all over again. Taking the example of Olga's older sister in "Three Sisters", teacher Chan Shui-yu, who plays this role, says that she would like to encourage viewers of the show to stop indulging in nostalgia, have a more conscious sense of the present and do what is necessary to make Hong Kong a better place ^[10].

Summing up the material discussed above, it should be noted that modern Chinese masters of drama highly appreciate the work of A.P. Chekhov and make significant efforts to ensure that the plays of the Russian playwright become an integral part of the theatrical life of the country. Currently, there is a wide variety of creative approaches of Chinese directors to creating productions based on Chekhov's works. The main tendency is to avoid realistic reading of Chekhov's work, which was once offered to the Chinese public and theatrical circles by Russian masters of drama. Russian Russian approaches, of course, enjoy great respect in China and invariably attract attention as endowed with the ability to bring more authenticity to the reading of Chekhov, the Russian view. At the same time, Chinese theater-goers see their creativity in a different way. Chekhov's modern experimental productions on the Chinese stage reveal the broad horizons of Chinese directors, the influence of not only Russian theatrical culture, but world culture as a whole. Focusing not only on the Russian theater, but also on the results of the work of theater troupes from Israel, Canada, Chinese playwrights perceive a wide range of modern theatrical techniques, mainly developing avant-garde approaches to reading Chekhov. In many cases, Chekhov's Chinese productions have a hybrid character, often contain references to musical, cinematic, literary works of artists from various countries of the world.

The main task of Chinese directors is to adapt the works of the Russian writer through the prism of perception of Chinese consciousness, as a result of which the content of his plays and stories becomes more understandable and close even to an unprepared Chinese viewer, is filled with a Chinese worldview. The most productive way of reading the works of the Russian writer is filling the performances with national and cultural flavor, transferring the action of Chekhov's works to China, introducing stories from the life of modern China.

Thus, modern Chinese productions of Chekhov's works represent unique stage projects of an experimental nature, which reveal deep reflection and creative search of Chinese directors, a high level of mastery of modern avant-garde principles and techniques, a reverent attitude to classical texts, national and cultural flavor, have the ability to invite people involved in the production to introspection.

^[1] The organization is based in Beijing, was founded on December 25, 2001 as a result of the merger of the Chinese National Youth Theater and the Chinese National Experimental Theater.

^[2] It is also known under the names "Fatherless" and "Play without a name".

^[3] Also known as "Sunrise".