From the Rest to the West: Staging Differences and Redefining Intercultural Performances

Abstract

Intercultural theatre has seen a significant increase recently on the world stage; however, many well-known contemporary intercultural productions are built on Western traditions incorporating elements from other cultures mostly as exotic embellishment to enrich the original plays without reorienting cultural position and significance. The focus of this research is on shifting the main narrative in intercultural discourse from the West to the Rest, and attempts to deconstruct conventional limitations and further redefine intercultural performances beyond the established framework. Wu Hsing-Kuo and Suzuki Tadashi’s intercultural approaches are examined as examples on how they, basing theatrical performance on their own traditional cultures, react to the encounter with classic texts not simply through reproductions and mixture of cultures but through interweaving personal or collective experiences with the context of original plays. Adaptations and retheatricalization of the original plays allow the plays to speak to contemporary audience and audience with different cultural backgrounds. The two productions, Wu Hsing-Kuo’s King Lear and Suzuki Tadashi’s Electra, are studied as embodiments for the two practitioners’ theatrical approach and intercultural adaptations. Through the research on their practices and productions, it clearly shows how such performance challenges the original hierarchical intercultural relationship, and further enables a different experience of producing or viewing intercultural theatre.