This production of King Lear was performed in the CJ Towol Theater at the Seoul Arts Center, Seoul, South Korea in the Fall of 2021 and was directed by Lee Hyon-u, English professor at Soon Chun Hyang University. Lee Soon-jae starred as King Lear, and actress Lee Yeon Hee played both Cordelia and the Fool. Read More
Romeo and Juliet in Saigon was directed by Khai Thu Nguyen and Cliff Moustache and performed on July 15, 2012. A 50-minute adaptation of Shakespeare, this work is a result of an intensive workshop at the Hat Boi Theater in Ho Chi Minh City. The play uses dance, movement and Hat Boi techniques to tell about the importance of love and the choice one takes about love. Romeo and Juliet want to find the truth of their heart, but have difficulty because those around them are embroiled in conflict. They risk their life for true love. Read More
Hamik is a 2016 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet directed and written by Eunsung Kim and performed by the Seoul Metropolitan Theatre. The production features a female Hamlet. The Seoul Metropolitan Theatre generously granted permission for the archive to host a video (with English subtitles) of highlights from the production. Read More
The tragicomic film chronicles the life of a masculine and a trans-feminine vagabond performers in the fifteenth-century Joseon Dynasty. The traveling actors stage multiple plays-within-a-film using the conventions of the all-male vagabond theatre with masks, or namsadang nori (a UN Intangible Cultural Heritage). The feminine jester Gong-gil’s sexuality is deliberately kept ambiguous throughout the film. When the two “clowns” are recruited as the king’s jesters in court, the narrative evolves to echo several themes and characters of Shakespeare’s plays including the revenge plot in Hamlet, the device of a bawdy play-within-a-play in Taming of the Shrew, and the love triangle in the aforementioned Twelfth Night. Read More
Richard III (Li cha san shi), directed by WANG Xiaoying, The National Theatre of China (Beijing) | Premiered at the London Globe during the 2012 Globe to Globe Festival Read More
Shakespeare Must Die | a Thai vision of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth | Jai Singh Films presents SHAKESPEARE MUST DIE – an Ing K/Manit Sriwanichpoom production – in association with the Ministry of Culture Film Fund – a Thai adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘The Tragedy of Macbeth’ Although the Thai government’s Ministry of Culture initially helped fund director Ing K’s adaptation of Macbeth, entitled Shakespeare Must Die (2012), the film failed to the meet the censorship board’s approval. In April 2012, the film was officially banned, and the director Ing K (Ing Kanjanavanit) and producer, Manit Sriwanichpoom, immediately filed an appeal. Over a year later, the saga continues, but they continue to fight for the release of their film. Read More
In 2016 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, the Chong Qing Theatre Company staged a new experimental production of the tragic play Macbeth. This adaptation written by Cai Fujun from the Art Institute of Fu Jian Province features only three performers, and the setting is a slaughterhouse which includes a pool of water in the center surrounded by a raised platform and thick chains hanging from the ceiling. Macbeth is played by a woman while Lady Macbeth is played by a man. However, their roles are reversed twice over the course of the play. A third actor plays the roles of Banquo, Macduff, and Fleance. The three witches do not appear on stage, but their voices are heard delivering the prophesies. The deaths of Duncan and Macbeth are represented by the running of electric saws with sparks flying. Read More
The background of Bond is set in the Song Dynasty of medieval China and the conflict between Jews and Christians becomes one between Tazis (Arabs, Muslims) and Cathayans. The play features strong gender consciousness and also highlights male bonding. It was performed at the British Shakespeare Association’s 2009 Conference and at the Shakespeare Association of America’s 2011 conference. It has also toured China and the U.S. Read More
Having heard from the Ghost that Claudius murdered his father, Hamlet performs a play “The Murder of Gonzago” in front of Claudius and Gertrude. This play within a play convinces Hamlet that Claudius is guilty of the murder. After that, he prepares another play, called “rehearsal of revenge,” starring himself. Read More
Having heard from the Ghost that Claudius murdered his father, Hamlet performs a play “The Murder of Gonzago” in front of Claudius and Gertrude. This play within a play convinces Hamlet that Claudius is guilty of the murder. After that, he prepares another play, called “rehearsal of revenge,” starring himself. Read More
Sintang Dalisay was staged by Tanghalang Ateneo and the Ateneo Fine Arts in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia November 1-4, 2017, and directed and adapted by Ricardo Abad (with Guelan Luarca). Read More
A Midsummer Night’s Dream which premiered in 2002 was produced by the Yohangza Company of Seoul, South Korea and was directed by YANG Jung-ung, who also wrote the Korean script. Read More
Macbeth Unplugged, performed in Taiwanese, was staged in 2007 by the Tainaner Ensemble in Tainan, Taiwan and directed by Lü Po-shen. Read More
Shakespeare’s The Tempest is transported to 5th century Korea in this dramatic re imagining and adaptation of his final and most poetic play. King Zilzi, immersed in his study of Taoist magic, leaves the care of his kingdom in the hands of King Zabi. While he is away, Zabi takes control and, with the help of Zilzi’s brother, Soji, banishes him from his lands. Read More
This 2007 production of Hamlet directed by Yoshihiro Kurita relies on elements of traditional noh theatre and the epic story-telling tradition of Japan to re-imagine Shakespeare’s play. The Hamlet character remains seated at the front of the stage throughout the performance while delivering his lines. Read More
Search: Hamlet centres around an absent Hamlet. Each participant enters a dialogue that develops and interprets the contemporary search for Hamlet in their cultures and communities today. Read More
The Tale of Lear, directed by Tadashi Suzuki whose experimental and provocative Trojan Women received critical acclaim at the 1986 Chicago International Theatre Festival Read More
Antony and Cleopatra, dir. Yukio Ninagawa (2011), the Sainokuni Shakespeare Company
Performed in Japanese at the Ion Keshōhin Theater Brava, Osaka, 28 October 2011
Performed in Japanese with Korean subtitles at the LG Arts Center, Seoul, 26 November 2011
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A contemporary film adaptation of King Lear, set in modern-day London, centred on the life of three generations of immigrants of a Hindu family from Bengal. Read More
Ur-Hamlet is a multicultural project by Odin Teatret: a performance that brings together the Odin Teatret ensemble, a group of actor-dancers from Bali, Japan, Brazil, musicians from different parts of the world, and a long-term pedagogical project for young trainees from all over the world. Read More
Performed in Bahasa Indonesia, Japanese, Mandarin and Korean with English subtitles. Fifteen years after 1997, Ong Keng Sen revisits his Lear to create a new performance, distilled and visionary, entering one man’s mind, a past king and his memories: Lear Dreaming. Read More
Charudatham is an adaptation of Julius Caesar into kathakali .
Video of performance took place on 1 March 2001 at the Nataka Bharathi 2001 Shakespeare on Indian Stage, national theatre festival and seminar at Kasargode, Kerala, India, 24 Feb – 2 March 2001, in association with the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.
Kodumkattu is an adaptation of The Tempest in southern folk theatre form. Read More
The background of Bond is set in the Song Dynasty of medieval China, and the conflict between Jews and Christians becomes one between Tazis (Arabs, Muslims) and Cathayans. The play features strong gender consciousness and also highlights male bonding. Read More
In Yang Jung-Ung’s Hamlet, Gut (shaman ritual) is integrated with modern performance forms. By focusing on that many characters in Hamlet are entangled in conspiracy and obsessed with a desire for vengeance, Yang Jung-Ung captures the characters’ dark inner sides and interprets them as a Korean sentiment called ‘han'(an emotion of sorrow and regret). Read More
Killbeth is a martial arts theater based on Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Using martial arts and actions, the production captures and expresses the characteristics of the original’s dynamic energy and spectacular power. By changing witches into a blind psychic and presenting an old Buddhist monk, Killbeth highlights Korean sentiments. Read More
