Theater project seeks to bring Joyce and Beckett to China

Promotional material for Ulysses Photo: Courtesy of the Xinchan Theater

Both Nobel Literature Prize laureates, Irish writers James Joyce (1882-1941) and Samuel Beckett (1906-89) have long been regarded as two of the world's most daunting writers by literature fans. Although their works may seem difficult to understand to some, play adaptations of Joyce's work and the two's life stories probably seem less so. At least this is what Chinese director Yi Liming has been counting on since he first became involved in a project to introduce stage plays about these men and their work to China.

Six dramas, three in Chinese and three in English, based on these literature masters' works and their lives are getting ready to debut in China in 2015. The English plays Ulysses, A Journey Through James Joyce and Becket en bref, the former two directed by British director Andy Arnold and the last by British director Gerry Mulgrew, make up the British contribution to the project: 2015 Chinese-British Literature Drama Connection.

"The fundamentals of stage dramas exist in literature as well," said Yi at a press conference for the project on Wednesday in Beijing. Establishing the Xinchan Theater in 2008, Yi has directed a wide range of dramas, from domestic classics such as Tea House to foreign classics including Hamlet and Oedipus. The idea behind this Chinese-British literature drama project, according to him, first got its start during a trip he took to the UK.

While bringing his team to attend the Edinburgh Art Festival in August of 2013, Yi was captivated by a poster for the play Ulysses produced by the British Tron Theatre. The book, published in 1922 by James Joyce and considered as a pioneer work of stream of consciousness writing, on one hand is viewed as one of the most important works of modern literature, while on the other is criticized by many as being too hard to follow.

Curious about what this highly complicated literature work looked like on stage, Yi and his team went to see the show. Watching the performance, the group was amazed how the play was able to realize the essence of the original work in such a light and casual way. As soon as he could, Yi invited director Andy Arnold to bring his work to China.

Not content to bring just one show, Arnold has also chosen to premiere A Journey Through James Joyce, which focuses on the life of the author. In the show most of the characters will be played by Chinese performers in English.

Excited about the project and seeing the similarities between Joyce and Beckett, Arnold contacted his colleague Gerry Mulgrew, inviting him to make his Becket en bref part of the project. Similar to A Journey Through James Joyce, Becket en bref also attempts to take a closer look at the life of the author, who is seen as one of the founders of absurdist fiction.

Meeting his British counterparts show for show, Yi will stage three of his own dramas as part of the project, one based on famous Chinese writers in history and the other two classic plays. The first, The Seven Sages, pays tribute to the spirit of a group of 3rd century writers known as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.

Influential scholars and writers, the seven sages often gathered together in a bamboo grove to share their poetry and other writings about living simple rural lives. Their insistence on literature expression during a time of intense political control inspired generations of poets, writers and other artists.

While En Attendant Ancestors is an obvious homage to En Attendant Godot, his third play, The Special Train of the Empire, is set against the background of the invasion of Peking (Beijing) by the Eight-Nation Alliance (Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US) during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.

"The Eight-Nation Alliance forced China's modernization forward, I hope in the future we can cooperate with more countries besides the UK in 2015, to push forward the development of theater in China," said Yi.

Showtimes:

Shengli Theater in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province:

Ulysses - March 27

China Millennium Monument Theater in Beijing:

A Journey Through James Joyce - April 3

Becket en bref - April 17

The Special Train of the Empire - May 16 The Seven Sages - April 10

En Attendant Ancestors - April 24