(Photo provided to China Daily)
Thanks to his previous experience of working with Lin Hwai-min's Cloud Gate Dance Theatre, among the most famous contemporary dance troupes in Taiwan, Wu could also combine Peking Opera gestures with contemporary dance moves.
When Kingdom of Desire premiered in Taipei in 1986, Wu won wide acclaim for the innovative production. In 1990, he presented Kingdom of Desire at the Royal National Theatre in London.
"After the performance (in London), rose petals fell on the stage. It was like a dream. The actors cried－all the hard work had paid off," Wu's wife and dancer, Lin Hsiu-wei, recalls of the audience appreciation.
Lin is now the producer and choreographer of the Contemporary Legend Theatre.
Despite the acclaim, Wu's teacher and Peking Opera master Chou Cheng-jung criticized the adaptation. Chou, a traditionalist, even refused to meet with Wu.
Kingdom of Desire is the first of the Contemporary Legend Theatre's many Peking Opera versions of Shakespearean plays like The Tempest, King Lear and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
