Invited by Santiago a Mil International Festival, King Lear of Contemporary Legend Theatre from Taiwan will be presented at Antofagasta Municipal Theater, Las Condes Municipal Theater, and La Pintana Municipal Theater, from January 2nd to 14th, 2020, with a total of 6 performances at 3 different locations. There will also be an artist talk in Santiago and a master class in La Pintana to share with the public the creative process of adapting Shakespeare’s masterpiece King Lear through the lens of traditional Chinese opera.
Santiago a Mil International Festival in Chile was founded by the nonprofit organization, Teatro a Mil foundation. For over 26 years, it has presented 1,065 Chilean productions and 500 international productions, and has attracted more than 11 millions spectators. The year 2020 marks the 27th anniversary of the festival. It will take place from January 3rd to 26th with presentations of Chilean and international theatre, dance, music, circus, visual art, and film in Santiago and in over 20 neighboring cities. Contemporary Legend Theatre is the first Taiwanese theatre company ever invited to the festival. Its classic work King Lear, after touring in the major cities around the world, will visit South America for the very first time.
King Lear, adapted from Shakespeare’s tragedy King Lear in a form of one-man show with a total of ten characters, is played by Wu Hsing-kuo. King Lear is divided into three parts, “The Play,” “Playing,” and “A Player.” Wu Hsing-kuo, who elevates the concept of role playing that is the most dramatic and most vigorous in Shakespearean canon, plays all the ten characters in King Lear. This production is considered Wu’s best. He re-interprets Shakespeare’s plays with operatic artistic techniques—singing, reading, doing, and playing. It is undoubtedly an expressive art in totality. This production was the first Taiwanese production ever invited to Edinburgh International Festival in the United Kingdom, and has been highly acclaimed for years by reputed media including The Times of United Kingdom, Wall Street Journal, and the New York Times.
This production will be supported with Spanish supertitles, which allows the audience to truly experience the essence of King Lear. There will be an artist talk, allowing the audience’s curiosity about all that are pertinent to the play to be fulfilled. The master class will also allow the Chilean audience to learn the basic traditional operatic techniques in gesture and in singing. With the support of Ministry of Culture and Taiwan Academy in Los Angeles, Contemporary Legend Theatre will bring its classical fusion work of traditional Chinese opera and Shakespearean canon to Santiago a Mil International Festival in Chile, with a hope of transcending the language and culture barriers to strike a chord with the Chilean audience.
Illustration Description:
1.Contemporary Legend Theatre is the first Taiwanese theatre company ever invited to the Santiago a Mil International Festival in Chile.
2.King Lear with a total of ten characters will be played solely by Wu Hsing-kuo, who will surely impress the audie