Staging: A Comparative Study of the Chinese Yuan and English Renaissance Theaters

10.6999/DHJCS.200302.0175

魏淑珠(Shu-Chu Wei)

Chinese Yuan ； English Renaissance ； staging ； portable properties ； sound effect ； spectacle ； combat scenes ； supernatural beings ； happy ending ； bloody scenes ； player ； entrance and exit ； director ； costume ； facial makeup

東華漢學

1期（2003 / 02 / 01）

175 - 206

英文

This article argues that the bare, open stage of the Chinese Yuan and English Renaissance theaters called for similar processes and methods of staging. In both theaters, portable properties such as tables and chairs were handled by stagehands in full view of the audience. Musicians stationed on the stage made some of the sound effects. Combat scenes, supernatural beings and assemblage of the characters at the end of the play made superb spectacles. The spectacles popular in Renaissance England but not seen in Chinese Yuan dynasty were dumb shows and splashing of blood, reflecting more cultural than theatrical differences. Both theaters were player-centered in their staging. The players departed with special cues such as a couplet, and they rehearsed without a director in the modern sense of the word. They wore splendid and expensive costumes, disregarding historical accuracy. Other than the clown-villain roles in the Yuan dynasty theater, facial makeup was subdued. These similarities indicate that both theaters aimed to entertain instead of presenting verisimilitude, which is extremely difficult, if not impossible, on the bare, open stage. There were signs, however, showing the Chinese theater moved over time toward a more stylized type of performance, whereas its English counterpart because increasingly a realistic.

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