Theater director Li Liuyi's Chinese adaptation of the famous Shakespearean play Hamlet will be shown at the Shanghai Grand Theater on Jan 16 and 17. [PHOTO BY LI CHUNGUANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Hamlet will have its most accurate Chinese rendering yet thanks to a new adaptation of the classic that's set to hit the stage, Zhang Kun reports in Shanghai. 

Often portrayed as a melancholic young man burdened with indecisiveness, Hamlet will take on the form of a hero and philosopher in the upcoming Chinese adaptation of the famous Shakespearean play that will be performed at the Shanghai Grand Theater over Jan 16-17.

The play marks the second time that 57-year-old theater director Li Liuyi is working with the Shakespeare Folio Translation Project, an initiative by the Royal Shakespeare Company, a major British theater company in Stratford-upon-Avon. RSC's folio translation project is aimed at making William Shakespeare's works more accessible to Chinese speakers.

Li is an award-winning theater director whose previous work includes Tea House by Lao She, the classical Greek tragedy Antigone, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov and Shakespeare's King Lear in 2016-the first play he worked on as part of the RSC project.

Theater director Li Liuyi's Chinese adaptation of the famous Shakespearean play Hamlet will be shown at the Shanghai Grand Theater on Jan 16 and 17. [PHOTO BY LI CHUNGUANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Li says his production will "be loyal to the original", though he did move Hamlet's famous opening soliloquy to the end of the play. The adaptation will also feature a recital of the line "To be, or not to be? That is the question," in six interpretations to show the differing views that translators have of the story.

"Each translator has made his or her personal interpretation. They have provided the guide for me to understand the play, and discover the ideas of Shakespeare," says Li. "The Chinese language has evolved over the decades, and ideas have changed. We wanted to make a new production for a contemporary Chinese audience."

The main translator for the play, Li Jianming, has already received praise for her work. According to a Beijing News review-the production premiered at the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing in December-Li Jianming's work is "extremely well suited to live performance".

The director picked Chinese actor Hu Jun to play the role of Hamlet. Li Liuyi says Hu is the best contemporary Chinese actor for the role because of his involvement with theater productions before he became famous for portraying heroic characters in martial arts shows.

The director also made the bold decision to have Lu Fang, who happens to be Hu's wife, to play the roles of Ophelia and Gertrude. In some scenes, these two characters appear on stage at the same time, requiring Lu to shift between two roles without a change in outfit.

Theater director Li Liuyi's Chinese adaptation of the famous Shakespearean play Hamlet will be shown at the Shanghai Grand Theater on Jan 16 and 17. [PHOTO BY LI CHUNGUANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]

"You will have no difficulty distinguishing the two characters," Li Liuyi says. "Lu Fang is one of the best actresses from the Beijing People's Art Theater, and you can analyze my design of her two roles using the Oedipus complex theories, but her rich-layered performance will tell more than just that."

Veteran actor Pu Cunxin, who is the chairman of the China Theater Association, will play the role of Claudius and the ghost of the late king.

RSC's Shakespeare Folio Translation Project aims to have all 36 of the playwright's works translated to create a new collection of Chinese translations by 2023. The translations are tested through a series of workshops and rehearsals.

"Together, theater workers and translators will unpick the clues about meaning, character and pacing that have been ignored in previous translations," says RSC artistic director Gregory Doran.

Contact the writer at zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn

Theater director Li Liuyi's Chinese adaptation of the famous Shakespearean play Hamlet will be shown at the Shanghai Grand Theater on Jan 16 and 17. [PHOTO BY LI CHUNGUANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Theater director Li Liuyi's Chinese adaptation of the famous Shakespearean play Hamlet will be shown at the Shanghai Grand Theater on Jan 16 and 17. [PHOTO BY LI CHUNGUANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]