"'Who is it that can tell me who I am?' / 'Lear's shadow'": A Taiwanese Actor's Personal Response to King Lear

In 2001, the renowned Taiwanese actor Wu Hsing-Kuo premiered his solo work Li Er zaici, in which he explored his deeply personal concern with Shakespeare's King Lear and with the traditional Chinese theatrical form. In the play's three acts, Wu took on the roles of nine principal characters of King Lear, as well as appearing as himself. On one level, the performance provided a spectacular display of Wu's unique skills in diverse styles of performance and stage techniques of martial arts, dance, and aria singing. But through his own identification with the character of King Lear, Wu also sought to analyze his personal and professional dilemmas, as someone who had devoted his life to the Chinese traditional theater since childhood and was now anxious about the uncertain future of this art form. The work expressed Wu's reactions toward both the Western literary canon and the Chinese theatrical tradition, inviting audiences to examine for themselves the contemporary meaning of a Western literary masterpiece for Taiwanese society. Drawing on Wu's autobiography, his program notes on Li Er zaici, and his comments on the production, this essay investigates the complexities of how Wu adapted King Lear and bound it up with his personal history, together with his innovative application of Chinese stage conventions. Wu's adaptation is a striking departure from the overly respectful way Shakespeare in which has normally been approached in the Chinese-speaking world.