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Weiwuying Questioning Heaven Returns to the Stage after Five Years Queen of Bangzi Opera Wang Hai-Ling Interprets the Female Version of King Lear in this 60-Year Masterpiece
On Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts (Weiwuying) will be staging Questioning Heaven, portrayed by the queen of Bangzi Opera WANG Hai-ling. The playwrights of the work are professors PENG Ching-hsi and CHEN Fang, both authorities of the British literary giant SHAKESPEARE, and the two worked together with director LU Po-shen and assistant director YIN Ching-chun to create the third work of the Bangzi-Shakespearean series. The last time for Questioning Heaven to be staged was in 2015 at the National Theater, winning countless praise. Five years later, Questioning Heaven is now returning to Kaohsiung, a city the opera company calls home, and is to be staged at Weiwuying.
With bridging the world with locals as its calling, Weiwuying continues to pay close attention to the legacy and development of local art groups. Taiwan Bangzi Opera Company, a group that has been deeply rooted in Southern Taiwan for over 60 years and has earned international praise for innovating tradition, is invited to present work Questioning Heaven, which is an adaption of SHAKESPEARE’s classic King Lear. The show will attract people of different ages and tastes in Bangzi Opera and SHAKESPEARE’s plays to gather in Weiwuying and enjoy this innovative Bangzi work.
Weiwuying production director Jack KUO stated: “As an artistic and cultural hub of Southern Taiwan, Weiwuying invites Taiwan Bangzi Opera Company, a team with both local and international merit, to present the classic Bangzi-Shakespearean work Questioning Heaven. This is a major index in Weiwuying’s effort of bridging the world with locals and encouraging the culture of performing arts in Taiwan. Taiwan Bangzi Opera Company integrated western classic with traditional Chinese opera, giving birth to an innovative, Taiwanese Bangzi opera. Together, Weiwuying and Taiwan Bangzi Opera Company’s presentation of Questioning Heaven hopes to introduce the possibilities of traditional Chinese opera to the audience.”
Questioning Heaven has an outstanding team, with WANG Hai-ling, winner of the National Award for Arts, as the leading performer, and prominent Bangzi Opera Xiao Sheng (young male lead) CHU Hai- shan, Bangzi opera star XIAO Yang-ling, the most alluring Dan (female lead) CHANG Hsuan-ting, and Bangzi Opera’s fine voice HSIEH Wen-chi, alongside many outstanding actors and actresses. The work explores familial bonds and the concept of the home country, individual desire and justice, relationships and destiny, and a variety of themes. The work is filled with touching poetry and writings, presenting a unique form of satire that probes into existential issues such as lust, forgiveness, human nature, and being. Dressed as the Dan version of “female Lear,” WANG Hai-ling interprets a character going through hardships, falling into insanity in the tug between power and familial affection, and her eventual awakening and regret. WANG’s portrayal of the character is undoubtedly the result of 60 years of skill and mastery.
Throughout its 67 years of establishment in Kaohsiung, Taiwan Bangzi Opera Company has continued to experiment with the innovation of traditional Chinese opera, integrating the local culture and artistic temperament of Taiwan to create unique Taiwanese Bangzi works. In 2009, the company started working on cross-cultural works, adapting the works of SHAKESPEARE to create Bangzi-Shakespearean works such as Bond and Measure, Measure!, which has been incredibly successful. The company’s third Bangzi-Shakespearean work Questioning Heaven is written with even more nuance, with language, emotions, and performances that bear more intimate resemblances with local culture and the sentiments of the people. This method allows Bangzi opera lovers to see the changing and intricate emotions among Shakespearean characters. As for viewers that are new to Bangzi operas, the delicate presentation and beauty of traditional Chinese opera is revealed through the meticulous singing and staging of performers.
In line with the preventive measures of the Coronavirus (COVID-19), we advise visitors to leave earlier when travelling to Weiwuying and wear face masks throughout the entire performance. And please follow the direction of our staffs by assigned seating, which means space are allocated between audiences. Weiwuying will work together with the public in preventing the spread of the epidemic and building a comfortable and safe venue. Adjustments following preventive measures announced by competent authorities will be carried out. We also advise visitors to wash hands frequently and seek medical attention as soon as symptoms such as high temperatures or acute respiratory infections occur.