Anarchy in The PRC Meng Jinghui and His Adaptation of Dario Fo's Accidental Death of An Anarchist PDF

Modern Chinese Literature and Culture
Anarchy in the PRC: Meng Jinghui and his Adaptation of Dario Fo's "Accidental Death of an Anarchist" Author(s): Rossella Ferrari Source: Modern Chinese Literature and Culture, Vol. 17, No. 2 (FALL, 2005), pp. 1-48 Published by: Foreign Language Publications Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41490942 . Accessed: 30/05/2013 06:12
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Anarchy and his
in
the
PRC:
Meng of Dario
Jinghui Fo's
Adaptation Death of
Accidental Rossella Ferrari
an
Anarchist
Theater Company(Zhongyangshiyanhuaju The CentralExperimental Death of an yuan)stagedthe Chineseadaptationof Dario Fo'sAccidental inOctober de yiwai Anarchist (Yige wuzhengfuzhuyizhe siwang)inBeijing avantone ofthe mostoutstanding 1998.Itwas directed byMengJinghui, in China.1 gardetheaterartists contemporary in 1997,Dario Beforehe was awarded the Nobel Prizein Literature of Fo was almost unknownin China,and his work was a prerogative Withthe increasein his "symbolic capital" after onlya few specialists. reviews the awardingof the prize,severalbiographical appeared in the into leftist hisresearch his radical Chinese stance, press mostly emphasizing the Swedish modes,and the controversy surrounding populardramatic as the Vatican the prizeon "a merejester," decision to confer Academy's became a hot topic among the Chinese put it. The Italian playwright and a collectionof in particularly 1998, as his biography intelligentsia, on hisworkwere held in intoChineseand seminars weretranslated plays a highly (Guo 1998:31). Inthe same year, puttogether HuangJisu Beijing Death of an Anarchist modified versionof Accidental adapted fromL in turn became the basis of which translation, Meng Jinghui's Tongliu's "Chineseedition"(Zhongguoban) of Fo's masterpiece (fig.1).2 a majorwatershedin of Anarchist indeed represents The production ofprofound ofcontinuity and signs bothelements career, displaying Meng's
Iwish tothank Zhao, Henry Margaret and the Claire Conceison, Hillenbrand, for their reviewers precious anonymous as onthis aswell comments paper, and the attheir Franca Rame personnel me with inMilan for office providing Fo's notes about Dario unpublished China. 1The inBeijing premiered production in 1998. Itwasstaged onOctober 28, China and December atthe November and Haidian Theater the Children About Theater. 40,000 spectators 2000 InMay attended the performance. Theater. atBeijing itwasrestaged Capital inItaly been The has also performed play as Juvarra Theater, 2000) (Turin, April Festival. of the Torino part Big 2For onFoand reviews Chinese press and Mo Nobel seealsoL1997 the Prize, seeFo L translation 1998. For Tongliu's for Jisu's and J. 2000 1998b Huang Huang final version. script production Meng's of inhis volume Files isincluded edited 2000: Theater the (Meng Avant-garde All from Italian translations 236-275). own. Chinese are and my
Modern Chinese Literatureand Culture 1
withhisearlier a validstarting work;itthusconstitutes rupture pointfor a properevaluationof both his previous and subsequentwork.Meng's encounter withFo'stheatrical was crucial to the development of practice theChinese director's creative him with an opportunity for vision, providing a deeper investigation of issuesalreadyintroduced inearlier productions, as well as with a fundamental source forthe redefinition of his own of the dramaticmediumand its sociocultural functions. understanding in of audience the critical Nevertheless, spite positive response, reception ofthe playhas been rather controversial. Whilesomescholars havepraised it forits highdegree of innovation and creative others transformation, havedismissed itas an exceedingly and oversimplified rendition disfigured of the original.L Tongliu, Fo's official translator in China,forinstance, "It's too too this is not the text I have Chinese, comical, complained, 1.Poster of the second Fig. Beijing of Accidental Death of an production Anarchist 2000). (May 3SeePolveroni 2000. Polveroni hints ata famous Alessandro saying by Manzoni. After his novel The revising Betrothed the Italian (IPromessi Sposi), writer commented that he"rinsed his clothes in the Arno to River," alluding the heundertook linguistic purification while onthe draft working original inFlorence. his For further during stay criticism onMeng's see "distortion," D.2003. Huang northe messagethatFo would liketo convey to the Chinese" translated, an Italianreporter, (in Fre 2001). Similarly, criticizing Meng's presumed oftheplay's commented thatFo'sclothes "cleansing" political implications, had been "rinsedinthe greatYangtzeRiver."3 On the contrary, at a cross-cultural level,an excessive particularly insistence on fidelity is often misleadingand unfruitful both in terms of production and reception, while a processof creative transformation lead to a of artisticinnovationand sociocultural may deeper degree - without necessarilyeroding the aesthetic and critical intervention of the original.In Fo's case, such arguments assume particular strength relevance becausehisworkdisplays a highdegreeof linguistic and cultural that constitutes a hurdle to its cross-cultural specificity undoubtedly major As Patrice Pavis (1996: 11) transmigration. pointsout in his analysisof intercultural theaterpractices, the "renewedbetrayal" orthe "productive are "paradoxicalbut efficacious meansto guarantee misinterpretation" communication and to illuminate the unknown the known."Thiskind by of intercultural lies "at the heartof Pradier, relationship, saysJean-Marie the socialfunction of theater, capable of transforming misunderstanding
2 Meng Jinghui and his Adaptation
intosense-producing energy"(in Pavis1996: 11). Giventhe substantiallack of information and critical attentionin current Western on thisincreasingly cultural scholarship significant figure, beforeanalyzing the production o Anarchist I provide an introduction to themainstagesofMengJinghui's creative and contextualize development, itintheoverall framework ofcontemporary Chinese theater.4 avant-garde aftera brief discussion of the main issuesinvolvedin the Subsequently, cross-cultural productionof Fo's theater,as well as in the practiceof intercultural theaterin general,I undertake a close readingof the two - examining texts the original theirformal playand Meng'sadaptation structure and sociopolitical implications by means of two interpretative I which call the and "technical/self-referential." codes, "politico-satirical" Suchcomparative showsthatalthoughin Meng'shandsFo's analysis has undoubtedly a profound with masterpiece undergone metamorphosis, its powerful ambivalences and multiplelayersof meaningthe Chinese the essenceof itssourceat bothstructural adaptationmanagesto retain and semantic levels.As WalterBenjamin in "TheTaskof (1992: 74) writes theTranslator," does notnecessarily involve likeness." "kinship Accordingly, the Chineseversionof Anarchist should not be definedas a "word-toword" but rather as a "sense-to-sense" translation (Davis 1986), which standsout inthe Chinese theatrical instance of landscapeas a remarkable of the "other" for the of the "self." The alien is indigenization purposes transformed and turnedfamiliar, the "foreign" is employed to comment 1990). uponthe "own" (Fischer-Lichte/Gissenwehrer/Riley Inhisintroduction to TheOperaof Guffaws (L'operadellosghignazzo, - Fowrites 1981)- hisadaptation of TheThreepenny thathe applied Opera thesamedeliberate to Brechs work thatBrecht himself advised: disrespect "Whenyou are facedwithstaginga playbyan illustrious author, escape from theterrorism oftheclassics Treat ifyou themwithout anyrespect wantto showthe slightest consideration forthe ideas thatthese classics express"(in Mitchell1999: 450). Meng's sinicizedAnarchist displaysa Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 3
4An isConceison which 2002, exception draws a brief but outline of cogent career and creative as Meng's approach, well asof the work ofyoung Shanghai YuRongjun. playwright
and irreverent deconstruction. of enthusiastic celebration similar attitude director the Chinese Fo's contemporary classic, disfiguring By playfully contributes to the developmentof a model of theatrical productively devicesor a to a superficial of formal import exchangethatis not limited the possibilities of sociocultural mereexerciseintechnique,but explores communication bymeansof a theaterthat is capable of speakingto the inhisNobelLecture: "Itisnotenough As Fo (1998a: 7) emphasizes present. . . . Theyhave to be able to telltheir own to teach a techniqueor a style. an artistic thatdoes notspeakfor A theater, a literature, expression story. itsown timehas no relevance." to China in termsof of Fo's relationship an investigation Finally, a ofreception heredoes notfollow reveals thattheprocess interculturalism from one culture to another, butrather and unidirectional linear trajectory act inthiscase is one. Hencethe intercultural a circular and bidirectional as a "barter"of reciprocal as a "borrowing," but rather not identifiable 5On function of the productive and "misunderstanding" "misreading" drama and inrelation toChinese poetry, Chen 1995. Chen seealso Xiaomei ofcreative further examples provides of sources and foreign reworking for of the Western Other appropriation local sociopolitical purposes. 6Mou has been withdrawn from Sen ranks for several the theatrical years asone heisstill toberegarded now, yet ofcontemporary of the seminal figures Musketeers Chinese theater. "The Three of the (Beijing jutan Beijing Stage" Mou Sen, )- as Meng Jinghui, sanjianke - are Lin Zhaohua are nicknamed and and influential the most recognized in directors the experimental Beijing several others theater scene, although LiLiuyi, such asplaywrights/directors - also Tian and Qinxin, Zhang Guangtian mention. deserve 4 Meng Jinghui and his Adaptation illuminations and productive"misunderstandings." Second, and more itprovides further evidence to theclaim thatcross-fertilization, important, means has always been one of the mostfruitful rather than imitation, itself.5 whichtheaterhas alwaysrenovated and reinvented through The Anarchist of the ChineseAvant-garde MengJinghui: is regarded as one ofthe mostrepresentative Bornin 1965,MengJinghui - along withMou theater(shiyan directors of experimental xiju) in China - and byfarthe mostcontroversial Sen and LinZhaohua (fig.2).6Byvirtue and iconoclastic since the early1990s of hisunconventional attitude, style of the hisreputation as the ultimate established symbol Meng gradually to and in recent Chinese theatrical yearscontributed greatly avant-garde, wideraudiences. itspopularization among increasingly As Christopher Innes (1993: 1) aptly observes,"'avant-garde' has becomea ubiquitous label,eclectically appliedto anytypeofartthatisantiinform. thetermissometimes takento describe traditional Atitssimplest,
whatis new at anygiventime.. . . But'avant-garde' is byno meansvalueas suchusage implies." Thisremark neutral, appliesto thecase of properly wheretheestablishment oftheboundaries of "avant-garde theater" China, inbelonging an artist's to (xianfeng xiju) and consequently "legitimacy" inthemostrecent such isoften a contentious as isapparent issue, territory suchtheoretical confusion debateson Meng'swork. Amongotherreasons, in be ascribed to the fact that Chinese dramatic criticism may contemporary terms suchas avant-garde or qianwei),experimental (xianfeng (shiyan), - employed and "explorative" (tansuo)are often and ofteninaccurately as loose synonyms, thus betraying a predominantly formalapproach. shared is not defined traits, however, "Avant-garde," merely by stylistic butalso bya specific sociocultural or and a distinctive attitude, ideology, - both in aesthetic and philosophical approach.Formalexperimentalism terms ofwriting and production style as well as innovative, challenging, and/or are indeeddefining features ofavant-garde controversial contents, theater bothinChinaand the rest oftheworld.Nevertheless sucha notion also impliesan attitudeof reactionand revolt:a critical, antagonistic, civilization and politics, ofteniconoclastic stance toward contemporary cultural trends and established or officially sanctioned artistic mainstream traditions and institutionsthe "institution art,"as PeterBrger (1984) putsit.7 In Chinasuch reactioncan be traced back to the early1980s,with worksthat challenged the emergenceof a new wave of experimental and involved bothissuesof aesthetic the dominant dramatic conventions innovation as well as a substantial redefinition of the socialand political of the theatricalmedium.On the whole, the new dramatic functions realist/ productionwas markedby a departurefromthe mainstream thathad dominated the Chinesestage sincethe early naturalist tradition modelsimposedafter the twentieth as well as the century, propagandistic establishment of the PRC.The mostaesthetically daringand politically and Lin were those resulting from Gao Xingjian experiments provocative
2.Director Jinghui. Fig. Meng
71useBrger's for phrase clarity I believe ofdefinition, his though fit the Chinese doesn't theory entirely notion of"art asan context. Brger's refers tothe institutional institution" framework in which art isproduced, and received distributed, (academies, and and the theaters, museums, like), which itcontributes tothe through ofsocial and political legitimization Most Chinese avant-garde authority. theater work however, practitioners, theaters works for state (Meng Jinghui of for the National Theater Company Lin Zhaohua for China, People's Beijing and Art therefore their Theater),
Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 5
"attack" cannot beasdisruptive and confrontational asthat of completely the examined European avant-gardes inBurger's the Nevertheless, study. increased offered the flexibility by economic reforms has post-Mao brought about some changes. Nowadays - including several directors and Meng - while Lin their affiliation maintaining with their work units also produce plays through independent enterprises that them with more freedom provide toexperiment. On this "state/private inMeng see case, dichotomy" Jinghui's Conceison 2002. 8Onrecent ofChinese developments in the drama, contemporary especially 1980s and seeChen X.2002. 1990s, early OnGao and Lin's seeZhao productions, 2000 and 2004. Some ofMou Sen's Quah - such asAGrammatical productions Discussion ofthe Other Shore (Guanyu bi'an deyi hui taolun, hanyu cixing File Zero 1993), 1994), (Ling dang'an, and Related toAIDS aizi (Yu Things - are discussed inHuot 1994) youguan, 2000: 72-90.
- AbsoluteSignal(Juedui Zhaohua'scooperation xinhao,1982),Bus Stop Man (Yeren, can now be regarded (Chezhan, 1983),and Wild 1985) which as boththeorigin and culmination oftheinitial avantphaseoftheChinese Zhaohuacontinued withhis garde.WhileLin experimental producing plays foundedDramaStudio(LinZhaohua xijugongzuoshi), inthe 1990s newly theChinese witnessed further radical avant-garde developments, primarily the workof Mou Sen founder of the first theater through independent theGarageTheater who groupinChina, (Xijuchejian) and MengJinghui, in recentyearshas significantly contributed to the reformulation of the interms of popularization and stage-audience avant-garde exchange.8 Whereasthroughout the 1980s and mostof the 1990s avant-garde drama inhabiteda narrowand ratherelitistperiphery of the Chinese theatrical world,nowadaysit standscenterstage as one of the liveliest - a culturalsphere. Meng's style phenomenon of the contemporary unique blend of playfulhumor,idealisticpoeticism,and provocative - has becomea satirepackaged in extremely aesthetic forms challenging trademark forpopularsuccess, a remarkable value inthecultural acquiring market such as despitethe considerable growthof massentertainment filmand television.Nevertheless, fame and recognition do not come without a price.Overthe pastfewyears, towardthe popular Meng'sturn has arouseda substantial and he has been accused degree of controversy, of havingabandoned hisavant-garde stanceand sold out to the luresof mainstream cultural consumerism. Some scholars arguethatsincethe late 1990s hisworkshavetended increasingly towardslapstick comedy, vulgar and affected thepungent satire and entertainment, conventionality, lacking therebelliousness thatcharacterizes hisearlier productions. Meng'spursuit of wideraudienceshas been at timesinterpreted as a clevercommercial aimed at turning theater into glamoroushaute strategy experimental whilehisattempts at redefining theconception oftheavant-garde couture, interms of popularization have been takenas indicators of vulgarization and cultural commodification to LinHaibo (2001: (Wang2003). According
Meng Jinghui and his Adaptation
in the late 1990s has turnedintoa the avant-garde 73-74),forinstance, attitudedevoid of substance, a hollowslogan,a "falseavantsuperficial Others haveevenventured to suggest thatMeng's garde" (weixianfeng). buta fraud(Pan 2003: 9) and has merely theateris nota miracle become "an intellectual and the idle" (Huang D. 2003: 57). game forthe wealthy The dichotomiesof high and low culture,elitismand populism, and avant-garde art and commercial entertainment do not onlyapply fieldof drama,but ratherpertainto the whole realmof to the specific Chinesecultural and social practice. Seen from production contemporary thisperspective, becomesa sortof therefore, experience Meng'screative which to measurenotonlythe developments cultural barometer through of broadersociopolitical ofthe artistic field,butalso the transformations Itiscertainly truethatMeng'saesthetic vision has undergone phenomena. stepsinthe Chinesetheatrical sphere; significant changessincehisinitial the relationship betweenavant-garde and nonetheless, experimentalism should not be consideredin termsof reciprocal popularentertainment Inhislater but in terms of coexistence and interaction. the work, exclusion, inwhich the "negative" two modesare joined ina dialectical relationship and popularization assumea deep, evenstrategic, polesofentertainment as a tensionof opposites,of Histheateris best understood significance. in conversation and witheach impulses coexisting reciprocally integrated other. inthetheateras an actorinthe MengJinghui began hisinvolvement Drama Troupe(Wa shiyan of Mou Sen's FrogExperimental productions The of Western such as exploration jutuan). avant-gardemasterpieces lonesco'sRhinoceros musicaldrama The (Xiniu,1987) and Stravinsky's 1988) marked Soldier's Tale(Shibing de gushi, thegenesisofan iconoclastic to the West"thatwould characterize output "Journey Meng'sdirectorial the mid-1990s.9 Inthe following until as a student at years, postgraduate ofDrama, an extensive theCentral Academy Mengundertook investigation oftheWestern repertoire, avant-garde particularly Meyerhold's directing
9For further details onFrog, seeZi1988 and Mou 2000.
10 wrote anMA thesis onthe Meng Russian work entitled On director's Art ofDirecting (Lun Meyerhols dedaoyan yishu). Meiyehede
withproductions of the Theaterof the Absurd, and the aesthetics style10 The Dumbwaiter fromPinter's 1990) and (Songeaishengjiangji, ranging forGodot lonesco'sBald Soprano(Tutougen, 1991)to Beckett's Waiting (Dengdai Geduo, 1991) and Genet'sThe Balcony(Yangtai,1993). These towardtheatricality, a manifest stylization, tendency earlyworksdisplay modes and are markedbysharpsociopolitical and grotesqueexpressive with theChinese a firm ofthepast,and a profound satire, rupture rejection realist tradition. mainstream The second majortrendin Meng's creativejourneyis best defined in termsof a "(Re)Discovery of the East," as an intracultural dialogue characterized by a substantialrevaluationof the Chineseculturaland of traditional themes as well as a creativeassimilation artistic heritage, and techniquesintoan avant-garde framework. to of the intercultural: itrefers The intracultural isthe correlative oftenforgotten, or the searchfornationaltraditions, corrupted, in orderto reassess the sourcesof a style of performance, repressed, influences and to underto external to situateit betterin relation of itsown and the transformation standmoredeeplythe origins culture. (Pavis1996: 5-6) trendis Longingfor work in this intracultural The mostrepresentative Pleasures , Descending the Mountain Together(Sifan Shuang Worldly an xiashan), experimentalrereadingof an anonymousMing Dynasty Troupe(Chuanbang Exposure opera producedin 1992withtheAccidental - and restaged in - a collectiveof studentsfromthe Academy jutuan) In this TheaterCompany. 1993 and 1998 withthe CentralExperimental and of the repressed on a processof revitalization work,Meng embarks as well as a undercurrents of the Chinesereligious unorthodox tradition, ofyouthful mundanepassions, and thetransgression celebration instincts, the taboo of sex. The original of moral and social taboos primarily of two novellasfrom withthe narration Buddhist tale was integrated ofplayful thatcontributed Boccaccio's a masterpiece Decameron, obscenity
and his Adaptation 8 Meng Jinghui
to thejoculartone ofthe text.11 forWorldly Pleasures represents Longing a crucial of the dialectics of sacredand profane, step inthe development idealismand materialism, and solemnity and playfulness that underlies itisalso an early mostof Meng'sproductions; exampleofthe intercultural thatwouldfully unfold at a laterstage of hiscareerand ofwhich pastiche Anarchist is probably the mostsuccessful example. of deconstruction I Love The motif is also central to the controversial XXX(Wo ai XXX,1994),a sortof spiritual of monologueand statement beliefofthe generation of those borninthe 1960s,as well as a powerful exercisein linguistic endowed with allusive political experimentation the massiverepetition of the sentence"I Love undertones (forinstance, 1 XXX Love a trait d'union betweenMeng's Tian'anmen"). represents Beijing initial"absurdist" as it reworks phase and his more recentproductions, Western themes(thelossof meaning, theabsurdity of human avant-garde the assaulton established sociocultural truths and stereotypes) existence, and techniques(anti-theater, pastiche, parody, language games) intoan and present condition of Chinesescript dealingwiththe history original China. In the mid-1990s, Meng embarkedon a new phase of "intercultural and reworking oftradition, whose inspirations and techniques encounter" would last untilthe presentday. The motifof the "pastiched East" introduced withthe Buddhist-Boccaccio was revivedin the experiment Sino-German (co-directed production byAntjeBudde) of PutDown Your , Woyzeck 1995),a collage of a War Whip (Fangxianide bianzi,Woyicaike, The theme of Resistance street theaterpiece and GeorgBchner's classic. of tradition and the parodiedeconstruction of the of the hybridization classicsare also exemplified by ComradeAh Q (Ah Q tongzhi,1996), a rehearsals satirical ofLuXun'snovella thatwas censored adaptation during and neverallowed to be publicly performed.12 with increased and fame,towardthe end of the recognition Along a periodof methodological inwhich 1990sMengexperienced uncertainty
11 The two novellas are "Third Day, Second Novella" and "Ninth Sixth Day, Novella." Onthis seeLiao production, 1993 and DiBiello 1996. For the play 57-87. This seeMeng 2000: script volume also includes the text ofseveral other in this mentioned later paper, plays such asI Love XXX and Rhinoceros in Love.
12 Years The Year ofOne Hundred Eighth zhi ofSolitude-Viva diba (Bainian guji - wansui nian wansui wansui, 1996), the 99([Zhongguo] (To East) Journey 99)and lcheng Experimental Lear Shakespeare: King (Shiyan - Meng's zhi Li'er 2000) Shashibiya wang, avantwith co-productions Kong Hong - are Zuni Icosahedron garde group For an further of this trend. examples exhaustive of the description Woyzeck seeBudde intercultural 1999 experiment, and Ye1995.
to disseminate thecredooftheavantbetweenthe ambition he oscillated of havingto compromise garde among wideraudiencesand the anxiety 2001: 77). The little withthe dictatesof massentertainment (Meng/Zhao theatermusicalLove Ants(Aiqingmayi,1997) and the comedySlander - two rather and lighthearted conventional Street (Huaihuayitiaojief1998) - clearly suchtension.In the same year,however, exemplify productions encounterwith the theater of Dario Fo markedthe the enlightening of at integration and temptations of Meng's impulses finalconvergence with theestablishment ofa higher degreeofexchange apocalypse through in ofthe notionofthe avant-garde the audience,as well as a redefinition ofexperimentalism and pop,sociopolitical terms ofsimultaneous interplay "I hope," Meng says,"thatmy and playful entertainment. commitment kind of and the theaterbrings people a courage,the courage of living, courageof laughing"(in Da 2000: 35). Anarchist helped Meng Jinghui emerge froma seeming creative him a feasible solution to the dilemma of how to impasse,offering - without - and possibly thetheater influence wideraudiences popularize and mindless entertainment. necessarily fallinginto commercialization of a new the production was crucial to Meng'sformulation Furthermore, notionof Theaterof the People, whichmarkeda shiftin the Chinese versus theatrical the binary opposition"the Avant-garde landscapefrom "the cum to themore constructive thePopular" amalgamation Avant-garde of avant-garde theateras the Popular," from an elitist perception namely form of artto a more"dialogic"modelof stage-audience an antagonistic communication and interaction. treatment of Fo's Anarchist, moreover, inauguratesa new Meng's the inwhich, incomparison withhisearly intercultural experiments, process a higher assimilation oftheWestern Otherdisplays degreeof localization a passive to a productive thusmarking a shift from and cultural adaptation, 1999)- a Faust modeofcross-cultural (Daoban Fushide, reception. Bootleg - and Mayakovsky's TheBedbug version of Goethe'smasterpiece sinicized and his Adaptation 10 Meng Jinghui
instances of sucha trend. 2000) are the mostrepresentative (Chouchong# these works along with the to what most critics maintain, Contrary inLove Rhinoceros suchas LiaoYimei's oforiginal Chinese scripts productions IdeasAbouttheDestination 1999)and Meng'sown Latest (Lian'aide xiniu, - despitetheir of Love (Guanyuaiqing guisude zuixinguannian,2002)13 manifest evidenceof Meng's successstill constitute box office remarkable aesthetic toward formal efforts innovation, experimentation, uninterrupted of theater as an instrument of his of the most and, conception important, condition of society and humankind. on the existential reflection visionshouldnot of Meng'stheatrical the transformation Ultimately, or "betrayal" ofa trueor purenotion interms of regression be considered withthe to come to terms as an attempt but rather of the avant-garde, overthe past few decades by epochal changesthat Chinahas witnessed and adaptingto the engaginginan activedialoguewithnewsocialforces ofthe embrace texture. broader sociocultural superficial Meng'sapparently to takeexperimental be interpreted as a strategy therefore, popular, might inthe 1980s nurtured in which it was circles out of the restricted theater fora new model of "pop avant-garde" and laya foundation capable of Eco's Umberto broadersocial groups.Applying and influencing reaching in hispostscript to The Name of the Rose,one (1990: 531) considerations thathas wants to breakdownthebarrier thatMeng"simply conclude might to thework He [Ecoisreferring been erectedbetweenartand enjoyability. a wide audience and capturing that reaching of LeslieFiedler] perceives theirdreamsis perhapsthe meaningof actingas the avant-garde today, does not the readers'dreams and stillleaves us freeto saythatcapturing them." them.Itcan mean obsessing mean comforting necessarily Hurdles: Intercultural Is Fo "Speakable" in Chinese? and itsChineseadaptationwill of Anarchist As the comparative analysis - and possibly of Dario Fo'stheater the intercultural illustrate, production involves two basicobstacles:a formal one, related anytheater generally Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 11
13 Y.2000; on OnBootleg Faust , seeFan Y.1999; and inLove, seeFan Rhinoceros onLatest seeSu2002. Ideas,
to language, and a sociocultural to thecontent andthecontext one,related of production. The term"translator" here does not onlydesignatethe translator of the written of the performative text,butalso the translator - thedirector - and thetranslator - theperformer. text ofthegestural text A fundamental of Fo's workis in issue in the intercultural transposition factthe "performability" oftheextratextual hisphysical elements, namely of the whole expressive even prelanguage and his unique mastery
- apparatusof the humanbody. expressive As faras language is concerned, Fo's "verbalanarchy" undoubtedly a substantialchallenge to both translators and producers represents because histheatrical is characterized invention practice byan incessant of idioms, and modification as wellas a masterful creation ofwordgames, and intertextual that are often untranslatable. parodies playful blasphemies, Fo shows a predilection for rhymes and assonances,which Moreover, - an invented are mosteffectively in his use of grammelot crystallized
14 The term refers toan grammelot ofapparently nonsensical assemblage sounds used tosuggest meanings, rather than utter them explicitly, and wasoriginally devised the by ofcommedia in dell'arte performers order toavoid Valeria Tasca censorship. describes as"the (1996: 117) grammelot semantization offree and phonemes" an"Esperanto in used farce."
onomatopoeic patter employed to mimicforeign idioms and exotic dialects.14 With theexception ofa fewonomatopoeic Anarchist uses sounds, neither dialectnorgrammelot. itslanguage ischaracterized Nevertheless, of official, and comicregisters, as wellas a variety bya blending religious, of punsand word games displaying a highdegree of cultural specificity. Thetranslator isfacedwith an unavoidable choicebetweentheelimination - witha regrettable - or a shift of such passages loss of satirical power towardcreative adaptation. The problemof linguistic translation leads to second majorissueof intercultural theaterpractice, the cultural of a workof namely relativity art. In the case of Anarchist, whichwas written in responseto a specific situation and refers to typically Italiancultural the political phenomena, cultural and contextplaysa crucialrole at the levelsof both production Forthisreason,inthe majority of intercultural the reception. productions, use have which make for "domesticated" producers opted adaptations, offamiliar cultural and sociopolitical reference thanfaithful codes,rather
translations. The playwright himself recommended this typeofadaptation 1999:246). (Mitchell Fo hascomplained aboutthelossofsubtlety and satirical bite Although in favor of comic some of these (in simplifications) exclusively productions, he admits thatforeign inthe audiencescannotfeelthetragic atmosphere same waythatItalianspectators can; theycan shareitonly"bythe act of or better still bysubstituting for the institutional violence imagination" in Italyin the 1970sequallytragicfactsfrom the sociopolitical practiced A of of their 1991: virtue Fo's masterpiece xvii). major (Fo country history is thus its abilityto work simultaneously as both indicator of cultural and signifier Sucha dual function of universality. specificity undoubtedly liesat the heartof MengJinghui's choiceof transposing it intoa Chinese a majorreasonforthe play'sremarkable success contextand constitutes the Chinese audiences. As it: "The text bears a universal Mengputs among Inmy value.Itisa reflection on the humanbeing theAnarchist is view, and power, the one who fights againstthe obscureside of society against . . . Everyone the story as theyplease,and may their faults. mayinterpret think of setting itwheretheyplease,wherethereis moreneed forit" (in from Favetto2000). Ultimately, as Pavis(1996: 12) pointsout, borrowing anothercultureis neither a simplecitationnoran absolute duplication: is oftenthe artof the qualifiedtheft, of understood "reception properly in otherwords,the departureof a model in the productive distortion"; it.15 orderto reinvent : Dario Fo and HisPlay di un Anarchico MorteAccidentale Accidental Death of an Anarchist crucial (1970) was producedat a rather moment of Dario Fo'spolitical and artistic life.Fo started hiscareerinthe - spentthe withhiswife,actressFrancaRame early1950sand- together hisfarcesand "epic" comediesinthe two decades performing following oftheestablishment In 1968,however, conventional circuit Italian theater. on whom tired ofbeing"thecourt of the their criticism jesters bourgeoisie," 15 For and of examples analysis inrelation intercultural theater practices tothe Chinese seealso Fischercontext Tatlow 1990, Lichte/Gissenwehrer/Riley and Conceison 2004. 2001,
"acted likean Alka-Seltzer," the coupleabandoned the mainstream scene and decided to become the "courtjestersof the proletariat" (Valentini 1977: 8). In theirsearch for alternative venues and a deeper level of communication with popular audiences,Fo and Rame founded Nuova Scena (New Scene),a cooperativeoperatingthrough the network ARCI, of cultural-recreational circlesof the ItalianCommunist Party(PCI). In withPCI politics and increasingly attracted to 1970,deeplydisillusioned more radical models of revolution, the couple establisheda theatrical collective linked to theextraparliamentary left thatmarks line thestarting of the mostovertly politicalphase of theircareer.As Rame putsit,their activities "leftno space for'thtredigestif" (Mitchell1999: 45), fora oftheconservative "culinary" typeofartaimedat thesensualsatisfaction theater palates of the bourgeoisie.Theypursuedinsteada journalistic of counterinformation, a disposable "livingnewspaper"of immediate - a "throwaction,or accordingto Fo's own definition revolutionary Accidental Death of an Anarchist a remarkable awaytheater." represents of such example practice. On December12, 1969, a bomb exploded in the NationalBank of in Milan'sPiazza Fontana;sixteenpeople died, and almost Agriculture a hundredwere injured.A group of anarchists was charged withthe them the ballet dancer Pietro massacre, among Valpredaand the railway Theformer inprison for three employee GiuseppePinelli. languished years; the latter"fell"to his death froma fourth-floor days aftertheirarrest, window of the police headquarters.In a seriesof highly contradictory the declared that the anarchist had committed suicide. statements, police theparadoxical accounts and theembarrassing silence Despite logicoftheir of the authorities, in May 1970 the judge in chargeof the investigations dismissed the case as an "accidental death." Theseevents, along withthe of number bomb attacks that had been unprecedented Italy witnessing since the previousyear,representeda blatant demonstration of the oftension"orchestrated Democrat "strategy bythe Christian government 14 Meng Jinghui and his Adaptation
in an attempt to crackdown on the opposingforces from the left.Most terrorist actions to havebeen organized proved subsequently byright-wing militants supported bythe Italiansecretservice. when anyone In this atmosphereof terrorand politicalhysteria, to suggestthatPinelli had been "suicided"was put on trial(Binni daring of the events, aimed version 1977:99), Fo conceivedhisown dramatized ofthe at unveiling theconspiracy ofsilenceand the absurdgrotesqueness establishment's masquerade.Anarchist opened on December10, 1970,in - and was an immediate of Milan warehousein the suburbs a converted success. Despite anonymous threats and police raids, the company to the newsof the playand updatingitaccording continued performing to post-performance debates thatFo called the day,as well as in relation or Boal's of Brechsprescriptions "the thirdact." In a way reminiscent "theaterof the oppressed"(Boal 1979),at the end of each performance Fo discusseditsmain issueswiththe audience,whose opinionsplayeda the of the text.In such "rehearsalof revolution," crucialrole in revision autonomous of turnedinto"spect-actors," subjects production spectators discourse. and critical version ofAnarchist The original opened witha prologuethatmainly a distancing filter shieldagainstcensorship, as a metaphoric functioned the As Fo addressedthe audience explaining named "thetransposition." he of the play,insteadof makinghis real targetexplicit circumstances who the death of Salsedo- an Italiananarchist claimedto be reenacting a windowof a policestationin NewYorkin 1921.Atthe same "fell"from also have happened he suggestedthatthe incident time,however, might "let'ssay . . . let'ssayMilan,"and in morerecent "in anyItaliancity times, such"verbal Interms ofstage-audience at the present relationship, day."16 and identification. of detachment a dual function prefaces"performed Whileoperatingas technicaldevicesthroughwhichFo the playwright/ wall" of mimetic actorbrokedownthe "fourth representation,17 theyalso shamantested whichFo the political servedas "phaticbridges"through
16 1982: 93. The Cappa/Nepoti prologue in the version of the disappears printed text thus (1974), definitively dropping offictionality. any pretense 17 of the illusion of The obliteration realism so-called "fourth (the wall") inFo's isa key theater, concept clearly from the Brechtian notion of derived alienation.
and thespectators and enhancedtheir hiscommunication with ideological emotionalinvolvement (Puppa 1978: 17). and sociopolitical The coexistenceof formal/technical aspects and structure a persistent the interplay of empathyand distancerepresent an essentialkeyforan and semantic and constitute trope in Anarchist A close reading of accurateassessment ofthetextand itsdeep meanings. whichI definehere the playdiscloses two possiblelevelsof interpretation, and "technical/self-referential." Thesemetaphorical as "politico-satirical" railsthat continuously overlap,thus layersdevelop along two different at the levelof contentthat is mainly a substantial producing ambiguity concealment relatedto the shifting bordersbetweenfiction and reality, and exposure, deceptionand truth. A GrotesqueFarceabout a Tragic Farce:The Politico-Satirical Code is a satirical Ata first levelof reading, Anarchist exposureofthe intrigues of powerand the corruption ofthe statemachinery, as well as a powerful celebration of the progressive forcesof rebellion. The story opens in an officein police headquarters, a realistic settingin whichthe surrealistic reconstruction of the extraordinary "fall" of the anarchist takes place. A window persistently dominatesthe scene, as lugubriousmemento A Maniac and evocativesignifier of a censoredand unspeakabletruth. witha compulsive (Il Matto,performed by Fo)- a "certified psychotic" - infiltrates and false pretences toward impersonation predisposition the police headquartersin Milan. In a sequence of hilarious gags and the to a Maniac unveil grotesque masquerades, manages quagmireof the mostsacred institutions of and connivanceimplicating corruption and the Church. First state power:the Police,the Judiciary, disguisedas thenas forensic and finally as bishop, Fo'sparadoxical expert, magistrate, the absurd avengerplayfully disentangles logicofthetales yetmercilessly inorder truth about fabricated to concealthedisturbing bytheauthorities Once unmasked, the Maniac the not-so-accidental death ofthe anarchist. and his Adaptation 16 Meng Jinghui
handcuffs the agents and the femalejournalist who is investigating the to bloweveryone a bombthathasbeen produced case,threatening up with as evidenceof the crime. The original draftended with an explosion and noises offstage thatthe Maniachadjumpedout ofthewindowwiththe bomb# indicating whileinthefinal version he simply reveals thathe has recorded the entire and willdiscloseitto the media. In thisway# conversation the textlacks a sharpsense of closureand dramaticresolution, thus preventing the from catharsis. Forthesame purpose, spectator anydramatic experiencing Fo avoidsfalling intothe trap of predictable propagandaand mournful melodrama instead "theanti-cathartic oflaughter" byprivileging technique 1982: the use of farcical and 93)# (Cappa/Nepoti namely grotesquemodes aimed at provoking in spiteof the tragicqualityof the events. laughter Inthe first the satirical intention is suggestedthrough moreor instance, allusions inthe events, who are constantly lessexplicit to realparticipants referred to bytheir orotherpersonal details. Theonly fictional professions in the playis the Maniac,and he is paradoxically character the onlyone who unveils the truth the mechanisms beyondthe fiction bydismantling of a counterfeit reality. a The play is builtupon a sortof Dantesque system of retribution, inversion of roles,a temporalsuspension of the established Saturnalian relations of power."I realized,"Fo says,"we needed a decoycharacter, could be a a surety, so to speak. And then I got the idea thatthissurety madman who holdsthe key... to all the madness, and he becomesnormal, A totalreversal" whileeverything else isabnormal. 1999:363). (in Mitchell Fo ventures intoa Withhis "mad-hatter's tea party"(Cairns1991: xviii), landruledbytheinverted a worldupsidedown Bakhtinian logicofcarnival, inwhichanarchists can be kamikazes, policemen ardently right-wing sing "Our Home Isthe WholeWide World,"18 and bishopspreachthe "Gospel Fo's Maniac accordingto Ciu En-lai[sic]" (Fo 1988: 72). Consequently, becomesthe highest officiant of sucha feastof fools.
18 "Our Home Isthe Wide World" Whole isthe ilmondo (Nostra intiero) patria Anarchist hymn.
to Bakhtin force ofcarnival (1984:88),thecorrosive According laughter "buildsitsown worldversus the official versus the world,itsown church official its own state versusthe official the church, state," suggesting foran alternative realm lawsand different potential governed bydifferent structures of dominance. in Fo's subversive feastof political Accordingly, - as a distorted the Maniac iconsof contestation, image of the official power becomes the spokesmanfor all the oppressedand persecuted in societyand the supremejudge in his self-orchestrated Tribunalof wheresocialevils and institutional taboosare mercilessly unveiled. Carnival, Fo portrays his farcicalantiheroas a modernversionof the visionary madmenfrom ancienttimes, when madnesswas notyetan "experience of nothingness" but rather an invisible and secretknowledge, the power ofrevealing inaccessible truths. As Foucault thevisionary (1989: 14) putsit, madman"standscenterstage as the guardianof truth ... iffolly leads each man intoa blindness wherehe is lost,the madman, on the contrary, reminds each manof histruth ... he speaksloveto lovers, thetruth of life to the young, the middling of things to the proud, to the insolent, reality and to liars."Fo's desecrating clownturns the stage intoa boxingring, withsarcasm, and raspberries as hisweapons,sparingnothing witticism, and no one. Throughhis linguistic acrobatics and absurd reasoning, he issues and unsolvedmysteries exposes some of the most controversial of Italiansociopolitical such as the exploitation of workers, the history, of the the of the corruption judicial system, inviolability magistrates, of medicalinstitutions, and the secretconnections betweenthe insanity Vaticanand the armedforces. of the politicalfactorin some interviews Despite his minimization Favetto on the universal value of (Polveroni 2000, 2000) and hisemphasis - an humandignity, is likewise adaptationof Anarchist Meng Jinghui's bombardment and cultural evils, uninterrupted againstsocial inequities as well as a forceful on the obscure of the Chinese commentary workings derives from Fo the Brechtian idea of a apparatus.19 party/state Meng
19 inother interviews Nonetheless, admits that "the more we Meng out that the wasset pointed story inItaly, the wewere" (Kuhn happier and confesses his for the 2000), surprise offreedom that the unexpected degree wasallowed. production
theaterof entertainment and education, hispraiseof the manifestations of the popularspirit, and his beliefin the subversive powerof laughter: which to humandignity, turnlaughter intoa weapon through "Emphasize intheworld, declarewaron allthe injustice oppose powerand oppression, satirizethe repulsive deridethe lifeof gaietyof the petitbourgeoisie, insociallife, ofadmiration, customs to the greatspirits worthy paytribute of the and eulogize everything endowed withthe unsophisticated spirit popular"(Meng 1999: 1-2). the of his"terrorist" a comparative adaptationwith analysis Although one canstill find thedeep reveals moredifferences thansimilarities, original a of Fo's playbeneaththe surface.Meng'sadaptationdisplays structure betweenartand lifeand developsalong similar game ofsubtleambiguity ofsociopolitical satireand technical/self-referential thesamedual pattern and of cultural bothas an instrument thusworking critique commentary, wherethree Thestory formal/aesthetic innovation. opensina policestation, who is beaten to death an anarchist policemenhave just "accidentally" the corpseout of the ceilingin a jute sack.After from throwing hanging inorderto coverup devisea story thewindow, theyrealizethattheymust Forthispurpose, the murder. theyforcea detained Madmanto become of theirmasquerade.When the mad director's the authorand director - apparently of heroin driesup,theyhelphimwithan injection inspiration - and a final isconceived. version oftheir life a common During ingredient the obtuse policemenrealizethattheiraccount the rehearsals, however, that it could onlyworkin the is so incoherent of the anarchist's "flight" Theaterof the Absurd.The Madman, however,is no longerwillingto thepolitical he denounces the police, crisis and ina final system, cooperate, - as mechanisms and the whole social body the audience inthe theater the backof the stage crashes and discrimination. of oppression Suddenly, to the groundand the playends. of Fo's "transposition"by Meng preservesthe allusive structure the temporaland spatial coordinatesbetween the constantly shifting Modern Chinese Literatureand Culture 19
late 1960s and the presentday, Italy, China,and nowhere (or rather, thus producingan enigma of meaning that ultimately everywhere), butalso to a of hisown nativecontext, alludesnot onlyto the specificity - and universal of violence, of humankind experiences generalcondition madness.Inspector and authoritarian Bertozzo, corruption, oppression, Police the Superintendent, and theirilkare now simply JudgeMalipiero, their to realcharacters; Chief B,without A,and PoliceChief anyreference becomesany policestation, anywhere (fig.3). Besides stage,accordingly, text intersection ofthetwo interpretative theconstant codes,theChinese and the oscillation betweenthe particular isalso marked bythe incessant of the originaldialogues and new as well as the alternation universal, Insomecasestheoriginal textisreproduced elements. narrative identically, in other cases it is the of the events often sequence changes; although The explanationof the localized and adapted to the Chinesesituation. whereasinFo'splayhe spendstheafternoon anarchist's alibi,forinstance: ina checkers inthe adaptationhe plays cardsina Milanesetavern, playing contextual references are mixed Beijinghutong.On the whole,however, as wellas elements common Italian and often stereotypes vague,including from Chineseculture and history. and eventsderived and stage by applyingsuggestive Meng departsfromFo's realistic is the setting clearly modes.Whereasinthe original production symbolic ofthe as and is rather an office place-specific (e.g.,a portrait recognizable almost Italianpresident hangson the wall), Meng'sstage is unadorned, of Chineseperforming artssuch as traditional bare, close to the spirit avantas well as the experienceof Western xiqu and xieyiaesthetics,20 and Brook(fig.4). Thereare no curtains, suchas Meyerhold garde artists ironand minimal wallsof corrugated props:a huge painting onlygrayish and a few dusty Fo'ssmiling face,a pile of red bricks, objects, portraying some shabbychairs.A noose hangingfromthe ceilingdominatesthe as a catalyst of meaning, the performance, scenethroughout functioning of a window, of an inexpressible a synecdoche whole,an allusive signifier
3.The Madman (Chen Jianbin), Fig. Ren Policemen and the (Zhao Huanyu, LiNaiwen). Chengwei,
20 classical The term indicates xiqu ortraditional Chinese opera, sung tomodern asopposed drama, "spoken drama" term ).The (huaju xieyi ink in Chinese traditional originates isgenerally to and opposed painting the realistic which describes xieshi, ofWestern Itwas painting. style field ofmodern first tothe applied drama veteran director Huang by tocontrast the Zuolin (1906-1994) nature ofChinese nonrealistic opera of realistic and the representation aswell astodefine his drama, spoken own dramatic (xieyi ), theory xijuguan onthe ofmodern based integration - primarily methods Brecht Western - and traditional and Stanislavsky such asthose techniques performing actor Mei ofBeijing Lanfang. Opera in into has been translated English Xieyi several "suggestive," ways ("imagistic," "essentialist," "ideographic," "intrinsicalistic") Huang although of did not onany agree ultimately itshould remain them and believed Zhao untranslated. Recently Henry to used the term "Zen has (2000) /xieyi" later Gao describe plays. Xingjian's
whichthe Anarchist "falls"in Fo'soriginal. the windowthrough the prologuebutemploys itina different manner than Mengretains Fo. The Chineseadaptationis composedof an innerframein whichthe actual performance of Accidental Death of an Anarchist takes place,and - one played by Meng an outer framein whichtwo clowns(xiaochou)
- interrupt theactionand provide an accountofFo'slife and career himself Inaddition, and singing. comment uponthe they bymeansofdeclamation
and directly address theaudience:"Youswitch off and events yourmobiles and we start we wearourcostumes, youstoptalking singing" (Meng2000: thiskind Fo's"living becomes ofmise-en-abme, 237).Through newspaper" and celebration his play is narrated withinhis a drama of recollection hisplay(fig.5).21 The significance of such and hislifeis seen through life, is mostclearly the of the metanarrative exemplified by centrality image film that is projectedonto the backdrop of the eye in a black-and-white In a documentary a l Piscator, towardthe end of the performance. style and a rapid the footage showsepisodes fromFo's career, rallies, protest on Fo'sown eyes,22 superimpose sequenceofchildren's eyesthatgradually of visionin an age of cultural blindness the importance as ifemphasizing thatseemsonlyto focuson the and the meaningof the past in a society Inthisrespect, also be interpreted ofthepresent. thefilm might materiality inthe of historical remembrance as a commentary on the social necessity well as a silent reaffirmation face of official to obliterateit,as attempts - anotherexample of "state of the 1989 dissentof Tian'anmenSquare was frequently referred massacre" to) that (as the Piazza Fontanaincident and lingers beforeeveryone's is censoredin speechyetexistsin memory mind's eye. intheclowns' outer Themotif ofunutterable isagainsuggested protest in Europe in framethrougha reference to the studentdemonstrations ocean" (Meng2000:244).The 1968 ironically inspired bythe "redChinese inthe internal ina passage inwhich the same motif recurs frame, initially to "stopwithyourlittle advisesthe hangedsuspect voices Superintendent
4.The minimal of the stage Beijing Fig. of the Anarchist. production
ofDario Fo 5.The portrait Fig. towering of the the celebratory quality emphasizes production. 21 ofHuang Jisu's The original target the wasactually the of portrayal script intellectuals "intentional death" ofleftist his criticism ofFo's acceptance through of"the cultural recognition highest - the Nobel Prize" ofcapitalist society Y.2000: 53), (in particularly Zhang in last scene ofhis Such the script. - and a scene consequently Huang's - iscompletely intention polemical inMeng's thus production, dropped the tone of the from play shifting tocelebration. The element lamentation ofcelebration the performance, pervades inthe and the seen especially scenery and commentary, Meng biographical inseveral interviews. confirms this idea
inhis ofa tendency This isalso part tohis artistic works topay homage Vladimir models as,for instance, in the film Chicken Poets Mayakovsky fei, 2001). (Xiang jimao yiyang 22 who that Fo"isa man Meng explains a rebellious child. has remained always isa tribute tothis Our long performance rebellion" Favetto 2000). (in
mouths cannotshoutlouderthanthe big the little and little loudspeakers, ones" (Meng 2000: 240), and again when one of the ignorant policemen of a who was a a Chinese student to have arrested claims great-grandson the artof brain-irrigation certain Laozi,and taughthim (Meng2000: 243). of to the claims these instances eloquentchallenges represent Ultimately, hasturned and humor on reminiscence thatMeng'semphasis thosearguing Fo's "sharparrowintoacupuncture" (Huang D. 2003: 56), and memory which to neutralize function as filters farceactually and slapstick through events and shocking tragic evenbleaker of Fo'sworldappearsat times TheChinese interpretation As mentioned thanthatof the original. and moreclaustrophobic earlier, and clownish and theyappear more are moregeneralized, the policemen - than Fo's. Yet such depersonalization - thus less threatening ignorant of them intopassiveexecutors as it turns is somehow moredisquieting, the schemesof a superior puppetsinthe game of an power,unconscious inthis isthesubstitution A noticeable variation, respect, Party-God. almighty then withan initially of the femalejournalist of the character seductive, the erasureof thejournalist policewoman (fig.6). Although intimidating roleofthemediathatwas central oftheambiguous also erasesthecritique sense of no to Fo's attack,at the same timeit producesa claustrophobic serve and the boththe Maniac journalist escape. Whereasinthe original here nobodycan expose the truthbecause the female to divulgetruth, whileinFo's of power.Moreover, isherself character partoftheconspiracy tellsthe Maniac,"Be good and I'llletyougo" (Fo textthe Superintendent "Be 1988:12),herehe says, good and I'llsendyoubackto jail" (Meng2000: a closedcircuit, withno way out. 249). The playthuspresents and Meng's versionalso emphasizes the theme of imprisonment and leaves inthe way inwhichthe Madmanmakeshisentrance passivity he is no uniform of the the stage.Wearing striped convicts, longera deus and turns ex machinathat unexpectedly appears on his own initiative the policestationintoa theaterforhisown performances (the Maniac's
and Madman 6.The (Chen Jianbin) Fig. the Policewoman (Li Mei).
are erased too), but an imprisoned writer, possiblya metamorphoses associations dissident because in the policemen'swonderland literary run shouldbe controlled police,and artists' lodgings bythe international of detention(Meng 2000: 264). Fo's complacent"certified by institutes forcedto play of politicalpersecution is turnedinto a victim psychotic" inthe authorities' thusemphasizing the roleof a ghostwriter grandrcit, inChinese freedom thatexists control on individual the idea ofthegreater Inhisfinalcrisis moreproblematic. and making hisact of rebellion society, official debunks themodesofhigh theMadman speechbyturning language and subverts the policemen's and delirious intoabsurdmockery nonsense, of truth, official misrepresentations plannedscript byopenlydenouncing of reeducation the brutality camps,and the State'seagernessto use the - as the "Mr.Anarchist" hisrevolt, In performing death penalty. however, - seemsto assumethe same violent officers come to call him frightened as ifcontaminated behavioras that of his adversaries, bythe same evil The play ends but no actual resolution. destruction disease, provoking and suspense with a of feeling ambiguity abruptly, leavingthe spectator a sense of claustrophobic thatreinforces helplessness. for the Maniac's caustic In the originaltext, a major instrument itsrootsinthe rich use of language,whichfinds attackis hishallucinatory and grotesquefarceand worksmainly of populartheater, satire, heritage and allusion. In orderto conceal the means of antiphrasis, parody, by to hide the authorities of theiraccounts, inconsistencies try continuously rhetoric of legalese and psychiatric behinda magniloquent terminology. has committed suicide to provethatthe victim Forexample, theyattempt as "an exasperated which the Maniacdefines as a result ofa suddenraptus, if normal individuals can affect ofsuicidal form psychologically angstwhich or desperateanguish"(Fo 1988: anxiety provoked bysome kindofviolent alter ego, quotes medicalsourcesand 24). The Maniac,as theirfarcical - "I'm the powerofwords from the penalcode,carefully articles weighing a maniac,not a fool,watchyourterminology" (Fo 1988: 75). He dissects Modern Chinese Literatureand Culture 23
meaningsand parses grammarwith surgicalprecisionin an attempt as to unmaskthe hypocrisy of official discourseand reveal itsfunction codesand legalformulas instrument ofoppression and control. Bureaucratic assault.According to the inversed are manifest of Fo'ssatirical logic targets for tribunals discriminate retired workers of hisgrotesqueworld, against abilitiesrequiredby not being "endowed withthe basic psychophysical the delicatefunction oftestimony" whereaswhendecrepit (Fo 1988: 56)# are all stand billionaires involved, magistrates up withthe Bible in their to you and believeinyou. . . . We swearthat handsand recite:"We listen the whole truth, but the truth" you are going to tell the truth, nothing (Fo 1988: 58). A further instanceof linguistic subversionconcernsthe realm of intheform ofcarnivalesque and ofsacredtexts religion, primarily travesty in Latin. of religious formulas The satireof religion parodiedisfiguration is best expressedin the Maniac's finaldisguiseas a grotesque bishopwho administers a dose of portentous "Benedictine sedative"to exorcist, the "possessed"Inspector who is desperately to disclose Bertozzo, trying the bishop'strue identity. On this,the onlyoccasionin whicha member of the powerstructure to tellthe truth, hisutterance is brutally attempts In orderto accomplish histask,Bertozzois forced to disfigure repressed. the portrait ofthe President anotheract of blasphemy as ifsuggesting that truthis only possiblewhen the individual cuts himself out of the institutional corrupted bodyand behavesinsanely. - parodyof sacred iconsand In Meng'sversion, politicalblasphemy - substitutes, motifsof Communist for obvious reasons,for theology The text contains repeated allusionsto military religiousblasphemy. violence and institutional and denounces thecancer ofcorruption brutality that affects the police force,the state apparatus,and the party's own ranks. satirizes the of official the dialogue playfully Moreover, solemnity and the mock the of performers propaganda, frequently stylized gestures the heroesofthe revolutionary instance operas(fig.7). The mosthilarious
7.An of the revival example parodie Fig. ofrevolutionary opera gestures.
ofsuchdesecration isthesong"TheTrain Runs Toward a travesty America," of the revolutionary song "The TrainRunsTowardShaoshan" (Huoche of the Maoist anthem xiangzhe Shaoshan pao). The Americanization both an act of irreverence and a satirical represents political commentary on thesubstitution ofthe old socialist with the American of dream, utopia Mao withMammon. Whereoncethesmiling faceoftheChairman towered now in Meng'ssong dollarbillsflutter in the highabove the horizon, airunder the bright American whileUncleSam plays the piano moonlight, and the Statueof Liberty dances along (Meng 2000: 255). The craze forWesterngoods, the blind pursuit of wealth and the materialistic consumerism of the contemporary age are majortargetsof workssuchas Rhinoceros in Meng'ssocialsatire hereas in morerecent Love and Chicken Poets.The ChineseAnarchist condemns the desertion of moralprinciples and highideals,as well as thewidespreadindifference towardpolitical and social injustice. to oppression Meng drawsattention some of the mostcontroversial China:drug problemsof contemporary the conditionof orphans, the neglect addiction, abortion, prostitution, of the elderly, and the predicaments of youth.He critiques superficial hedonismand the obsessiveconcernwith statussymbols, guanxi,and social climbing ("withthe richand powerful you neverlose out" [Meng 2000:240]).The mostremarkable instance ofsuchcritique isthe Madman's of the of cadres and State bureaucrats and the exposure nepotism Party lifeof luxury children. "How niceitwould be," privileged enjoyedbytheir he says,"if you were the illegitimate childof Suhartoor Rockefeller!" notonly criticizes the privilege moreover, (Meng2000:254). Sucha remark, thatcontaminates all spheresof Chineselife,but also worksas a caustic allusion to thestrange oftotalitarianism and capitalism sociopolitical hybrid thatis contemporary China. versiondisplays a muchstronger subtext Huang Jisu's anticapitalist thanthe finalproduction conceived The script by Meng Jinghui. former is markedby a clearlypoliticaland polemicalapproach and voices the Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 25
author's disillusionment towardcontemporary leftist intellectuals as wellas hiscondemnation ofthe "Americanization" ofChinese and worldculture, someofthecentral themes ofhissubsequent CheGuevara anticipating play, in whereas Meng's production the (Qie Gewala) (fig.8).23For instance, in the external frame the "voice of the represent people," in storytellers 8.The cast ofChe Guevara the Fig. joins cast of the Anarchist onthe of stage Theatre atthe end ofthe Beijing Capital inMay 2000. Che Guevara performance in wasperformed the same in period the Little Theatre. adjacent 23 Che Guevara wasfirst in performed 2000 atthe Little Theater of April/May Art was and Theater, People's Beijing anall-female with recently restaged cast actress-turned-director by Yang North Theater, Ting (Beijing June/July On this and the 2005). play controversy inBeijing itinflamed intellectual circles, seeCheng Y.2003 and Claire Conceison's recent of the (2004) study changing of the onthe American perceptions Chinese stage. (Fo) and hisbossand Huang'sscript theyplaythe rolesof a poor minstrel thusembodythe conflicting voicesof the oppressedand the oppressors, the powerless and the powerful. on the otherhand,while Meng'sversion, not refraining from social criticism minimizes the ideologicalfactorand the black-and-white betweenmasters and servants, oppositions capitalism and communism, and the populism, emphasizinginsteadtheatricality, subversive Fo expressed thisidea inthefollowing powerof laughter. way: "when you laugh,the sediment of anger staysinsideyou,and can't get out. It'sno wonderdictatorial and governments alwaysforbidlaughter satirefirst, rather thandrama" (in Mitchell 1999: 363). A final ofMeng's isthelackofeducation and knowledge target critique insociety, manifested thepolicemen's of primarily through frequent displays Thisalso provides himwiththeopportunity to perform allusive ignorance. - as the peculiarities language games akinto those of Fo but exploiting well as the ambiguities of the Chineselanguage. For example,in the first scene the policemen of the Anarchist's "suicide"by spoilthe report the wei of weizui zisha suicide for fear of (commit confusing punishment) withthe wei of weishenme in himself to be the the (why).Believing right, condemns hiscolleagues'supposedmistake and concludes Superintendent thatthepublic orderissafeguarded ofilliterates; bya bunch yetitisactually he who iswrong(Meng 2000: 242). In additionto the deconstruction of official of language as a symbol authoritarian a further withFo's practice is Meng's domination, similarity markedpredisposition toward linguistic eitherin the experimentation formof pastiche,repetition, humoristic and word rhymes, games or in the emphasis on profaneimpulses, and coarse language; bodilyinstincts,
inthisway,Meng retains the carnivalesque elementthatis central to Fo's theater. with the use of and his Anarchist Along Beijing puns, slang displays obscenities such as the on farts performed typical Fo-style rhymed passage - the supremeheraldof the laughing inthe prologuebythe clown truth thefearofthe powerful ofcarnival thatreduces intodesecrating mockery. A further instance of Meng's"Rabelaisian"grotesqueness isthe scene of - possiblya reference the Superintendent's childbirth to the hysterical experienced pregnancy bythe MaoistConstablein Fo's Can'tPay? Won't Pay! (Nonsi paga! Nonsi paga/ 1974). All these elementsconstitute of what Meng typicalmanifestations terms the "Theater ofthe People" (renmin a novel mode of artistic xiju) communication that disdainsthe national (minzu) and embracesthe folk(minjian the masses(dazhong ), departsfrom ) and the holyworkersand celebrates the neoromantic ofa forceful peasants-soldiers trinity myth and indomitable People. As Meng putsit: "Thetheaterof the people is a theaterthat reflects and joins togetherwiththe feelings of the people, withhuman human and human advancement."24 instinct, dignity, Although withFo provided theChinese witha newawareness theencounter director of the roleof the popularin art,Meng'sinclination forabsurdfarceand tracesitsorigins backto early satire suchas Waiting grotesque productions forGodot,TheBaldSoprano,and particularly TheBalcony, whichdisplays a parallelism betweentheaterand life, authentic and fabricated identity and mocks thesupreme iconsof power the Bishop, theJudge, and mask, - as mercilessly thePoliceChief as Fodoes inhisAnarchist. For thesereasons, at counteracting as well as forhisattempts the supremacy of mainstream "deadlytheater"(Jianghua xiju),Meng'snewavant-garde populism might be compared to Peter Brook's of theater" which ( ), concept "rough cusuxiju Brook(1972: 76) describes as "Filth and vulgarity are natural, is obscenity with these the takes on its for role, joyous: spectacle sociallyliberating the populartheateris anti-authoritarian, antianti-traditional, bynature Thisisthetheaterof noise,and thetheaterof noise pomp,anti-pretence. isthe theaterof applause."25 24 inZhang Y.2000: 52-53. The Quoted - "The musical theme of the play's Song zhi written (Renmin People" ge, by Zhang - isindeed and Liao Yimei) Guangtian the clearest manifesto ofMeng's new The isbased ona poem tendency. song Neruda. Pablo For definition by Meng's ofrenmin and the distinction xiju between and renmin ,seeLi dazhong Da2000, and The 1999, Q.2001. Cheng between is distinction minzu and minjian mentioned inXie/Meng 2000. 25 Brook in (1999: 3)quotes Meng anessay onthe version of Chinese Anarchist ina conversation Moreover, with Shen Lin included inhis edited volume Files ofthe Avant-garde inanattempt todefine "what Theater, theater isnot" experimental Meng a series of theatrical lists (2000: 365-366) that are reminiscent categories strongly ofthose described Brook inThe by Empty Space.
Code of the Trade:The Technical/Self-Referential The Tricks zeal forlanguagedeconstruction and etymological The Maniac/Madman's of the play, to the second code are also central interpretative accuracy Besides its sociopolitical designatedhere as "technical/self-referential." between the critique,the play is markedby an incessantfluctuation that and theextraspectacular, betweenrealand fictional layers spectacular can Anarchist therefore, overlap.On a secondlevelof reading, constantly on the worldof dramathatcontrasts be regardedas a meta-commentary and anti-illusionism, modes of making theater:illusionism two different and detached,self-conscious identification theatricality. empathie when at thevery outsetoftheplay, The metatheatrical keyisdisclosed - claims - who has just been arrestedunderfalse pretences the Maniac to be affected mania,fromhistriones, meaningactor.My by "histrionic he (Fo 1988: 7). Nevertheless, hobbyis playingroles,alwaysdifferent" real people,who are unawareof the roles histheaterinvolves continues, zeal, the Maniac introduces Throughhis etymological theyare playing. the theme of the ambiguousboundariesbetween reason and insanity, as wellas thatunderlies thewholetext, fiction and reality, dramaand life and mischief hisroleas deus ex machinainthe masqueradeof corruption his reference laterat the police station.Furthermore, that is performed tricks the illusionistic to a theaterof verisimilitude exposes immediately of politics and identification which the performers and emotional through in the theaterof life the citizens the passivespectators power bewitch are of the Italianstate.Inotherwords,politicians, judges,and policemen In theater contrast with their but actors and simulators. nothing hypocrites model a "Brechtian" theManiacadoptsinstead ofpsychological persuasion, distance. theperformance, and (ir)rational ofdetachedobservation During the rolesand managesto subvert he "leaps" in and out of hisdifferent The text means of his schizophrenic metamorphoses. script by policemen's of the the versions contains severalpassagesexplicitly associating official accountsof the the different anarchist's death withdramatic scenarios; and his Adaptation 28 Meng Jinghui
are repeatedly assembledand dismantled likeclips "accident/' moreover, ina film, in a novel,acts in a play, thusturning chapters legal documents and official statements intomereproducts of fictional fabrication. In Meng's adaptation, the metaphorof the authorities'fictional becomeseven moreexplicit than inthe original. Whereasin scriptwriting Fo's textthe policemenperform theirroles in the Maniac'smasquerade their herethetransformation oftheoffice intoa rehearsal room will, against is presented as a conscious choiceand emphasizedthrough the dialogues and stagedirections. The policemen and the Madmancontinuously modify their cutlines, and add characters. Forinstance, thePolicewoman, scenarios, who does notappear as a character in Fo's play the playthatthe actors - becomesa character - the are performing inthe "playwithin the play" are writing. playthatthe characters Dialoguesand actionsare rehearsed - acceleratedor in severaltimesand withdifferent methods performing slow motion, fast-forwarded or rewound,likea videotape. The artificiality of the politicalbody is also exposed throughthe Maniac'sparody ofStanislavskian realism and itstechniques, psychological forinstancein the scene in whichhe prepareshis impersonation of the withhisrole judge. In orderto achievea deeper degree of identification and to makehisperformance morerealistic, he performs an open rehearsal inwhichhe triesout different of "judge-like" repertoires psychophysical and postures. Thesame principle ofexposure ofthe "tricks voices, gestures, ofthetrade"appearsinhisdisguise as forensic Likean experienced expert. circus the Maniacrummages in hisbag takingout the propsfor magician, - a falsemoustache, hisnextnumber a glasseye,a wooden leg,and a fake - and turnswith unbelievablerapidity hand into a grotesqueand rigid narratives oftheanarchist's deathdevelop, puppet.The morethefictional themore thefakebodyofthefakemagistrate disassembles and falls apart, as ifto signify the increasing falseness of the police'saccounts, as well as - as of the whole structure of power.The corrupted of the Maniac body hisprostheses unscrew and hiseyeballstumbleto the ground becomes Modern Chinese Literatureand Culture 29
26 This isthe ofJoylynn argument Wing, asreported inMitchell 1999: 110.
and his therefore a metaphor of the grotesqueness of the political body, of the institutional theatrical a reflection of the artifice artifice system.26 character the central From sucha metatheatrical moreover, perspective, but does notonlyrepresent a mirror establishment, imageofthe political modelsfrom the author's can also be interpreted as a collage of fictional of the previousworks,as well as a sortof self-quotation a portrayal authorhimself "in hismultifarious pamphleteer, guisesas clown,political artist and satirist" comic, (Mitchell stand-up political giullare, quick-change of Fo's 1999: 104). The Maniac's one-man show is indeed a reflection own mise-en-scne of the body,of his uncanny to impersonate ability and vocal acrobatics. The different identities with nothingbut physical of empathy and distanceinthe playalso points to a crucial juxtaposition trait ofFo'sperforming theconstant alternation oftechniques style, namely of alienation and "techniquesbased on the magical resourcesof the actor-sorcerer" the Maniac can be (Puppa in Nepoti 1982: 17). Secondly, understood as a synthesis of Fo's previous dramatic alteregos and finds antecedents incharacters suchas the Madmanand the giullari (medieval the commedia jesters)of MisteroBuffo(1969) or the clevermasksfrom dell'arte Additional antecedents for theimageoflucidmadness repertoire. can be foundin Pirandello's IV icons IV,1922)and Brechtian Henry (Enrico likeSchweyk and Azdak (Lazzari 1970). Howeverdifferent theymaybe, all these modelsare linkedbya unifying the combination of the thread, with the and the retrieval of the as a of past political popular way exposing in Fo's work.Histheaterresults from a the present, whichare leitmotifs masterful orchestration of a significant number of sources, the primarily of the of with traditions aspects popularperforming blending transgressive modernexperiences of theatrical contestation such as epic drama,agitand For this reason,ItalianscholarLanfranco prop, political avant-garde. Binni(1977: 52) writes that a peculiarblend of popularcelebration and as rebellion flowsintheveinsofthe "epictheater"of Fo'sgiullari, political well as inthe bodyand soul ofthe Maniac,a modern"jesterof irreverent speech."27
27 Contra obloquentes jogulatores is Jesters ofIrreverent Speech) (Against ofFo's 1997 Nobel lecture the title (Fo 1998a).
The Chinese version furtherreinforcessuch a self-referential interpretation by turningthe play into an allegoryof the condition Chinesesocietyand playful of the avant-gardeartistin contemporary and When on traditional experimental performing styles. commentary the Superintendent (literally) gives birthto the fundamentalrule of that theironlyescape is to artistic the policemenunderstand creation, thatdoes notexist inother to maketheater.28 words, something produce in orderto perform theiract of politicalimposture, they Consequently, and director, an artistic As the Madman,a playwright summon impostor. is an impostor, a brilliant however impostor, Meng puts it, "A director he isa poet" (in ZhangL. 1999: has a senseof responsibility, thisimpostor as in Fo'svision the Maniacstandsas a mirror 59). Just imageof hisstatus in Meng's interpretation the Madman becomes a theater as performer, alterego of the "possessedexperimenter" the fictional (Li 1999: director, 24) of the Chineseavant-garde. and imprisonment issymptomatic ofartwith madness Theidentification inChinese ofthe avant-garde artist ofthecondition of Meng'sperception and livingin an absurd reality societyas a sortof estrangedindividual and institutional rules.The tropes of constricted by social conventions and psychic) and of deviance and eccentricity loneliness (social,physical, or in the form of traumatized (excessive psyches emotionality, disability, in Meng'stheaterand mayhave provided an archetype recur deformity) customers of of the Madman.The schizophrenic forthe characterization inComrade thedisabledworkers and the psychotics TheBalcony's brothel, in Love, of Rhinoceros Ah 0, the devastating passionof the protagonist Poets are just a few instances of such and the color-blind girlin Chicken Inhisfinalhallucinatory the Madman characterization. speech,moreover, of Sisyphus" mentions the "uselesseffort (Meng 2000: 265) an obvious and TheStranger, and thus of Sisyphus" reference to Camus's"The Myth individual and hiseternal allusion to thethemeofthe estranged a further condemnation. Modern Chinese Literatureand Culture 31
28 2000: SeeMeng 243. Here the are without policemen attempting, toproduce evidence soas success, tojustify the death of the anarchist and make itappear oran asa suicide accident. The hard tries Superintendent a solution toconceive and finally "gives birth" toa doll. Onits isa there body note that should turn the explaining they unreal into real and invent something that does not exist. thus conclude They that must resort to"artistic they creation" and write a play.
oftheater, the ambiguity of drama The metacommunicative function of "alienating" devicesas meansto unmask and life, and the employment the theatricalconvention also operate in termsof the stage-audience and theadaptation.InFo'sversion bothintheoriginal (1988: relationship, "I was inBergamo whenthe Maniactellsthe Inspector, [a 42),forinstance, townnearMilan], I shouldsaySan Francisco butthereisthetransposition," at thedramatic aboutthedeathof Fo/the actorisobviously pretext hinting inhisprologue. thatFo/the authorhasjustintroduced Salsedo inNewYork In the Chineseversion, dualismis paralleledby Meng such author/actor in as bothdirector and performer double taskinthe production Jinghui's theroleofone oftheclowns/narrators who provide additional commentary withthe audience. The on the main storyline and occasionally interact clownsare clearly a tribute to Fo, as well as a reflection of Meng'sown "I am a causticbuffoon, I tread on you where it rebelliouspersonality: I talkofwhatyouare afraid of" (Meng2000: 274). The introduction hurts, of such characters in the outer narrative frame,moreover, providesa mad to the pessimistic balancingcounterpart image of the imprisoned inthe internal artist frame. suchself-referential dualism Ultimately, might be interpreted as a reflection ofthe dialectics of playfulness and cynicism, lamentand revolt thatliesat the heartof Meng'stheater. of As previously discussedin relation to Fo's model,the coexistence such diverseself-representational leads to a further point prototypes of theatrical of tension in the play:the presenceof a varied network bothtraditional and modern, influences nativeand foreign, popularand The Madman,for instance, can be understoodpolitically as a political. in contemporary of the avant-garde artist but he is at the symbol society, same timea modern reincarnation ofthe ancienthuaji the wisefoolsof On the one hand,the two clownsin the the Chinesefarcical tradition.29 external frame evokethe clownroles(choujue) of Chineseopera and the traditions. On the other itinerant of the popularperforming storytellers and critical as devicesof alienation,anticatharsis, hand, by functioning
29 D.2003: 56.Huang refers Huang ofClowns tothe Biographies (Huaji inSima included Qian's liezhuan) Historian Records ofthe Burton (Shiji). Watson translates as"wits and huaji humorists" and defines them as"court entertainers and actors like the who, in Western literature, jester deftly king's orunenlightened correct their erring use lords their ofa ready quip" through (Sima 1993:215).
of Brechs detachment, epic theater. theyalso call to mindthe narrators intheuse ofdifferent ofmedia isalso noticeable TheBrechtian types legacy and narrative music, film, devices,such as recitation, singing, projected in In is mentioned the and voiceover. Brecht addition, titles, prologueas forFo's political a majorsourceof inspiration works, along withVladimir satirical theatercertainly another represents Mayakovsky's Mayakovsky. traitd'union between Fo and Meng's artistic practicesand significant an analogous instanceof successful meldingof political,popular,and The inclination towarddarkhumor and grotesque elements. avant-garde - as wellas thecoexistence ofthesacredand theprofane, enthusiasm satire - constitute commonmotives of these three and disillusionment further of the modern "artists-anarchists" stage.30 in subtext Thehypothesis ofthe presence ofa strong autobiographical allusions to the Chinese the adaptationis also supported bythe frequent theatricalcontextand to specificepisodes of Meng's life and career. Fo'sworkinto thevoiceof hisfictional double,Mengtransforms Through on the stateof self-referential a playful commentary game and a satirical thatthe Madman, incontemporary Chinese drama.Itisno accident affairs of Drama, the Academy is also a graduatefrom besidesbeinga director, theater instructed inthe superiority of realist wherehe has been carefully theater: methods of experimental overthe bizarre madman: theater?... I could never So youwantto do experimental standthoseavant-gardists; put they eightor ten TVsand a pile of if were a dealer or a garbage dump, as it torncartons junk onstage, isthattheyare not now theyhave even builta pool; the truth theater. skilled (Meng 2000: 247) enoughforrealist and a water the set of Meng'sI LoveXXX, dominated Indeed,TVscreens Three Sisters Zhaohua'sexperimental tankstoodcenter pastiche stageinLin waste or zimei for Godot (San dengdai Geduo, 1998). Likewise, Waiting materials were a trademark of the Chineseavant-garde stage recycled the ropesand torn designinthe late 1980sand early1990s:forinstance, Modern Chinese Literatureand Culture 33 30 The Meng staged Mayakovsky's in2000. was The Russian poet Bedbug and also a major source ofreference for the film Chicken Poets. For inspiration of remarks about the influence Meng's onFo's aswell Brecht and Mayakovsky 2000: as his own seeXie/Meng work, 347-348.
Discussion of The OtherShore, newspapersin Mou Sen'sA Grammatical the gas masksin Meng'sBaldSoprano,and thefire in Mou's extinguishers 31 Chen Jide that (2002: 58)argues aims atcarrying out a critique Meng of the "false ofnegative avant-garde/' trends within the In itself. avant-garde the self-referential view, however, my intention isstronger than that of "internal" criticism. 32 Budde recalls 499, (1999: 506) Antje the "scandal" ofMeng's Godot and the of the negative judgment Academy's inaninterview with the professors actor Guo Tao. I Love XXX also aroused controversy. 1987 production of lonesco'sRhinoceros, in whichMeng performed the roleof Jean.31 As for the experimentalists' supposed lack of talent,the passage possiblysatirizesthe harshcommentsof the veteransof the Central of Waiting Academyof Drama on Meng'sabsurd-grotesque production 32 forGodot in 1991. A further to the Beijingavantpossiblereference be the scene in whichthe Madmanviolently smashes garde circlemight cauliflowers withan ironstick, a of the possibly quotation "vegetal-gory" finaleof Mou Sen'sFileZero. - as opposed to avant-garde - is Traditional realism experimentalism undoubtedlya major target of Meng's satire. If froma sociopolitical froma perspectivethe policemen symbolizethe evil side of society, metatheatrical theinflexibility ofcensors andthe perspective they represent conservatism of Chinese artistic institutions. The playinsistently mocks the conventions ofmainstream theater particularly theStanislavskian method of actingand the realistdramatic tradition through the juxtaposition of the Madman's absurdity with the policemen'sattemptsto stage a - as a caricature realistic of play.In severalpassages,the Superintendent a conservative, trained director laments the Madman'slackof classically to perform realistic theaterand tries to reassert hisown directorial ability his scenarios. The most brilliant authority by criticizing experimental is a parodyof one of the mostvenerated classics example,inthisrespect, ofthe Chineserealistic repertoire Lao She's Teahouse(Chaguan,1957).33 InMeng's"mock -Teahouse" theAnarchist scene,the Maniacimpersonates who threatens the (Qin Zhongyi) obsequiousSuperintendent (WangLifa) withtakingover the PoliceStation(the Teahouse) in orderto establish a huge Anarchist and save the poor people of Italy(of Party (factory) the Empire). the originaldialogue intoan advertisement of Meng turns in which eat instead of the and noodles, imported goods, beggars pizza
33 Teahouse isa classic ofthe repertoire of the Art Theater, People's Beijing the of the Chinese realist stronghold tradition. Itwas first in1958 produced Jiao one of the most renowned by Juyin, of the Stanislavskian practitioners method inChina.
milk inGerman drink bottles whilelamenting thedecline powerful English of the country Great or the of (the People's Republic Qing Empire, Italy, China?).34 of The finale of the humoroussketchabout the Americanization Chinesesocietyis possiblya further case in point: the Madman's "To America!"(Meng 2000: 256) mightactuallybe a satiricalreference to Irina's "To go to Moscow!To Moscow!" in AntonChekhov's ThreeSisters A similar oftheStanislavskian ofstylistic (1901)- a classic repertoire. process of pasticheand literary burlesqueis also apparent in the incorporation elementsborrowed from Chineseand international suchas pop culture, allusions to Titanic and the lyrics ofsongsbycontroversial rock starCuiJian, inthe humoristic sketch"A TianjinMan Learns to Drive"(Tianjin wei xue - as of the traditional kaiche) an "absurdist" disfiguration quyistyles35 InSceneTwo, well as inthe Madman'stravesty of a linebySndorPetfi. "Life is the Madmandeclares: moreprecious isfreedom, precious, yetfor I wouldrenounce themboth"(Meng2000:248).Thislineisactually dignity reminiscent of a poem byPetfi thatalso inspired Luo Guoxian's , playLife Love , and Freedom (Shengming, aiqing,ziyou), stagedinShanghaiin 1983 and directed byHuangZuolin. a recurrent Thiskindofquotationgame epitomizes featureinMeng's theatrical the postmodern towardintertextual practice: pastiche tendency inearlier for and hybridization works suchas Longing alreadymanifested Ah 0, and PutDown yourWhip Comrade as Pleasures, , Woyzeck, Worldly well as in a passage about "collective dance" in I LoveXXX- a collage of froma variety of literary sourcesranging fromConfucius misquotations to Marxto LuXunand to Wang Shuo (Meng 2000: 129). From to Barter: A Giullare1 s ChineseOdyssey Borrowing The practice of intercultural theaterI have been examining through Meng adaptation of Fo's Anarchist Jinghui's mightsuggest a unidirectional influence from one culture to the other, whichis somehowmisleading. I
34 251-253 and Lao 2000: Compare Meng 2003: 11-13. AsinTeahouse Little Wang his landlord as addresses (Xiao Wang) Elder Anarchist is Second here the (Er Ye), as"Anarchist" Elder addressed ("Wu" Ye). Li The character of Third-born (Li San) also In this appears. parodie perspective, beread the two Chiefs could moreover, ascitations ofLao duo She's police Song Enzi and Wu Xiangzi.
35 The term Chinese quyi designates folk narrative art forms such ascomic ballad dialogues, storytelling singing, and cross-talk.
would like, to concludethisessaybybriefly theother therefore, analyzing sideoftheencounter: theimpact ofChinese arts on culture and performing the Italianplaywright's dramatic Thisaspectof Fo'stheatrical production. in is seldomdiscussed critical studiesof hiswork, practice yetitmayoffer ofcreative offoreign and cross-cultural further sources examples reworking both to the fieldof Chinesestudiesas well as to the more perspectives literature and theaterstudies. generalfieldof comparative researchin popular Fo's politicalorientation, as well as his lifelong him dramatic has led to some of Chinese modes, explore aspects traditional and theater(whichFo called "a real factory of images,grotesqueness 36 Fo(2001: writes that he 276) some of techniques employed Chinese clowns inhis version of opera The Soldier's Tale (Lastoria Stravinsky's del soldato, 1978). 37 SeeValentini 1977: 163. Fo's enthusiastic comments onrevolutionary China are also in Valentini reported 1975. Onhis return toItaly, Foengaged in a polemical debate onthe of pages the with L'Espresso magazine Giorgio Bocca and Antonioni, Michelangelo - The whose film China documentary - Chung Center ofthe World (Cina wascriticized the Kuo, 1974) by for its and playwright overly pessimist intellectualistic ofChinese presentation society. 38 For a transcript ofFo's conversation with members of the Chinese troupe, seeBinni 1977: 83-95. 1982: 125]),suchas mime, and the irony"[in Cappa/Nepoti storytelling, of Beijing navet thatsometimes techniques Opera.36 Despitethe political Italianjournalist emergesfromhis accounts prominent GiorgioBocca even comparedFo's 1975 tripto Mao's Land of Utopiato a pilgrimage - froman artisticpoint of view his Chinese experience to Lourdes37 a remarkable constitutes instance of productive assimilation undoubtedly and intercultural exchange. While in China, Fo and Rame visitedthe Artistic of Jinan, a revolutionary collective composedof almost Company two hundred and actorswhose practice sharedseveral dancers, acrobats, withthe "proletarian" activities pointsincommon theywereengagingin at the time, thusoffering themnew modelsand insights.38 - a dragonas symbol ofthe Fo had previously Chinese motifs employed a puppetof Mao- inpolitical works suchas Grand Pantomime revolution, withFlagsand Smalland Middle-Sized con Puppets(Grandepantomima of bandieree pupazzi piccolie medi,1968) and Death and Resurrection a Puppet(Mortee risurrezione di un pupazzo, 1971). However, hismost valuable source of inspiration was an enlightening encounterwith a in Shanghai.The Chineseperformer's use of mime, popular storyteller ofthemany as wellas the impersonation bodylanguage,and localdialect, reminded Fo of the improvisation characters appearingin his narration, and physical of the commediadell'arteand hisown linguistic techniques 36 Meng Jinghui and his Adaptation
experimentsin Mistero Buffo,composed of a series of one-person performance pieces. The technicalessence of the Chinesestoryteller's wouldserve, two yearslater, as the basisof hisown "Chinese performance Taleof a Tiger (Storiadella tigre,1977).Thisone-manshow is giullarata," inwhicha woundedsoldier a popularparableset during the LongMarch, from recounts hisfabulous encounter witha tigress Mao'sarmy "ina dialect thatsoundsa bitlikeChinese, thatof the peasantsof the Po region"(Fo 2001: 194). An updated versionof the playwitha prologue about the was presentedin 1989 at a solidarity in Milan, Tian'anmen Incident rally Letter from China byRameentitled along witha monologueperformed from dalla Cina[Mandataa Parigi da (Lettera (Sentto Paris bya Girl Beijing) 39 Inthe same year, una ragazza di Pekino]). Fo also wrotethe monologue ofChinese ofQu (La storia di Qu),characterized TheStory bya combination Italianregionalidioms, and hisown extraordinary inventiveness. motifs, from Chinathe playwright conceived a sketch fora on hisreturn Last, Chinese-themed completednorpublished whichrepresents play never of Chinesesources. one of the finest examplesof hiscreativereworking - called "Typewritten notes with handwritten corrections The script by con correzioni Dario Fo fora text about China" (Appuntidattiloscritti - tellsa story set in 1928 in manoscritte di DarioFo per un testosulla Cina) evident similarities the Chinese thatdisplays with"Medicine" countryside the dramatist does notmention (Yao, 1919),LuXun'sshort story, although hissourceexplicitly. A youngpeasantgirlisdying from and herfamily istold consumption, forherdisease.She must eat a steamedbun thatthereisonlyone remedy - "a really bad one," one ofthe soakedinthebloodofa beheadedcriminal and, even you squanderyourmoney villagers says,"evilblood,otherwise 40 itdoes notwork." Thewardenofthelocalprison tells themabouta worse, He who is soon to be executed: "No doubt! isa natural revolutionary going - forGod's sake- he is a Communist!" Hence some of the borncriminal himinjail,so as to makesurethathe really isup to his villagers go and visit
39 Foexpresses his profound toward disillusionment contemporary China and his for contempt Deng inan infamous ("an character") Xiaoping interview in LaRepubblica a published few "In before the these days rally: years I have been invited toChina atleast ten times I have declined because always made me feel and Deng uneasy, gloomy" (in 1989). Campari
40 All in this are quotes passage the translated author from Fo's by notes (Fo1975). typewritten
The supposedcriminal talksabout the recent workers' strikes, reputation. his "evil" propagandistic the Kuomintang as well as the actions, purges, unfairness of laborregulations and the hardconditions ofworkers, which are actually ofthe Italian inthe 1970s.He then situation quite reminiscent tellsthemof a villagein "Hanksi"wherethe revolution was successfully - obviously carriedout by a certainMao Chou a fusionof Mao Zedong - who choppedthe heads offall landlords and Zhou Enlai's surnames and The Kuomintang triedto killhim, priests. yetto no avail,as he is a skillful - "You know Some even say he is a reincarnation of Little Jesus magician. thatcrookthatbecame a Catholic and led the Tainpeng[sic]rebelsabout - theycontinue - Mao Chou is a double seventy yearsago?" Betterstill sometimes he isMao, sometimes he isChou,and sometimes reincarnation, bothof them that'swhyhe is so powerful. A description of Mao Chou's marvelousdeeds follows,in which Fo mixesinventedChinesesayings, Italianpeasant idioms, and motifs derivedfromChristian hagiographies and populartales.Mao Chouisendowedwitha stunning voiceand carries a Holy redeems bandits and thieves, he controls theclouds Book,hissinging and winds,his armyis invincible. The dialogue ends withthe peasants' remarks about the of the revolution and the actual skeptical utopianism of Communism. In thispassage, Fo again mergesChineseand feasibility Christian whiletaking the opportunity forlaunching themes, yetanother attack on hiscustomary satirical establishment targets the Italian political and the Church: come into one of them "They'll power," says,"Andthey won't do anything but replacethe landlords and warlords, and perhaps Think about Little Jesus. How many agree withthem.Itisan age-oldstory. of hisfellows took sideswiththe masters?" As illustrated in these few examples,Fo's treatment of his Chinese sourcesrevealsthe same processof cross-fertilization, and localization, creative as thatshownbyhisChinesecounterparts intheir appropriation of hiswork.The intercultural mechanism at the basis of reception lying China's relationship to Fo's theater is thereforenot to be understood 38 Meng Jinghui and his Adaptation
but rather as a "barter"of as a simpleand unidirectional "borrowing," and exchanges as a two-way flow of mutualilluminations techniques/1 inwhicheach side "preserves his/her own autonomy and identity and yet or annihilating the other:seduced,but not reduced" avoidsassimilating (Pavis:1996: 11). To conclude, despite the allegations of unfaithfulness and that Meng's versionhas been charged with,as well oversimplification in the intercultural and contextual hurdlesinvolved as the majorformal thepreceding hasshownhowthe process ofFo'stheater, reception analysis - and not of a workof art does not always of cross-cultural production - imply of itsaesthetic the loss of the "aura" of the original, necessarily value. As Meng Jinghui and symbolic puts it: "Theatermustbe closely with the epoch, with societyand real life. Some people interrelated to Dario Fo to the letter, however demandthatwhattheysee shouldstick as well as the implication of I believethatwhatmatters is Dario Fo'sspirit, the contentis no longerimportant" social satire.Faced withsuchspirit, (in Li 1999:25). an existing The ChineseadaptationofAnarchist form, developsfrom culturaluniverse into a familiar yet this formis altered,transplanted with modifiedspatial and temporal coordinates,and by means of network of inspirations codes. The multifarious interpretative indigenous Fo's theatrical that characterizes experienceand the processof mutual seduction and exchange that underlies his relationshipto Chinese further evidenceto the claimthat productive moreover, culture, provide constitutes one of the rather than transformation, passive imitation, of the and revitalization forthe innovation instruments mosteffective theater. "Whatever the time,whateverthe place, Cairns writes, Christopher seemsto strike a the police,howevercensored,Fo's Anarchist whatever chordin all of us, an Aladdin'scave of our secretdreamsand yearnings; and to kickoverthe traces and, immune out at all oppression, to strike
41 Here I borrow Barba's Eugenio notion of Barba defines the terminology. asfollows: "As ineconomic barter barter, of barter the theatrical defining principle in isexchange, but theatrical the barter, ofexchange isperformance" commodity Watson 2000: Inmy definition of (in 244). I assign "intercultural barter," however, which inBarba's tothe term, practice bears a rather concrete a meaning, more abstract and broader, "symbolic" connotation.
borneon wings,to oblige oppressors to singthe Anarchists' with hymn us" (Cairns1991: xx-xxi). should production Ultimately, Meng Jinghui's not be measured by the yardstick of word-to-word it rather, fidelity; shouldbe regarded as a "sense-to-sense translation" thatneither slavishly discardsthe formalqualities and social reproducesnor simplistically of itssource,butreworks themintoequallypowerful devices implications of aesthetic and cultural innovation, rebellion, political critique.
Glossary Ah Q tongzhi PIQIÎS S It Aiqingmayi Beijing jutan de sanjianke yishu juyuan Beijingrenmin 5jtf Chaguan Chezhan $fi Chouchong choujue jutuan Chuanbang cusuxiju Daoban Fushide dazhong Dengdai Geduo Fangxianide bianzi,Woyicaike Gao Xingjian S aiqingguisude zuixinguannian Guanyu taolun bi'an de yihui hanyucixing Guanyu Huaihuayi tiaojie it huaji iSS'J huaju HuangJisu HuangZuolin "HuochexiangzheShaoshanpao" ÎÎhSlLiS jianghuaxiju xinhao Juedui Lao She Lian'ai de xini ( Liao Yimei ~ LinZhaohua LinZhaohua xijugongzuoshi Lingdang'an LunMeiyehedede daoyanyishu Luo Guoxian SIH/' LTongliu 1M MengJinghui Kf] minjian minzu Mou Sen %-. mH qianwei quyi renmin xiju and Culture 41 Modern Chinese Literature
"Renmin zhi ge" AKifc , . S Shengming, aiqirig, ziyou de gushi Shibing shiyan xiju SifanShuangxiashan SR*3KTlil Songeaishengjiangji tansuo wei xue kaiche" "Tianjin Tutougen Wa shiyan jutuan weishenme weizuizisha wei xianfeng $]% Wo ai XXX Xijuchejian xiqu Xiniu 7fcff xianfeng xiju fei Xiangjimao yiyang xiaochou /J'i xieshi ' xieyi ^ xieyi xijuguan P0 Yangtai Yeren i?A Yige wuzhengfuzhuyizhe de yiwaisiwangYuaizi youguan ZhangGuangtian Zhongguoban Zhongyang shiyan huaju yuan
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. 1977. La Storia di Dario Fo (The storyof Dario Fo). Milan: Feltrinelli. " I33. 2003. "Meng Jinghui: Wang Feifei xianfeng xijude 'zhaopai' the "signboard"of avant-garde ' " (Meng Jinghui: theater).Fujianyishuno. 3: 7-9. a Third Theatre."InJaneDeGayand Lizbeth Watson,Ian. 2000. "Towards ReaderinPolitics and Performance. London Goodman, eds.,TheRoutledge and New York:Routledge, 241-247. XieXizhang and MengJinghui -2000."Guanyu 'shiyan xiju'de duihua" on "experimental ')^ (Conversation theater"). In MengJinghui , ed., Xianfeng xijudang'an '(Filesof the avant-garde theater).Beijing: Zuojia,347-355. - Bu, Meng hedao de Ye Yanfang+^'1995. "Woyicaike you yi jing nide bianzi,Woyicaike - ft, Fangxia guan hou" - afterseeing Antje TftWS, , anotherscene ( Woyzeck Budde and Meng Jinghui's co-directed Put Down your Whip , Woyzeck). Zhongguoxiju no. 8: 60-61. SS. 1999. "Meng Jinghui ZhangLu daoyan de 'yeyu'zhuangtai" "amateur"condition). (Meng Jinghui's Zhongguoxiju no. 6: 57-59. - yichangyanchude 2000. "Yu Dali'ao Fu wuguan? ZhangYujie :;&. ! (Doesn'titconcern taiqianmuhou"-111&?- Dario Fo?- the stage and backstageof a performance). In Shen Lin Mundi 2000/%%(Theatrum Mundi 2000). Shenyang: ed., Theatrum Liaoning jiaoyu,50-58. Y. H. 2000. Towards a ModernZen Theatre: Gao Xingjian and Zhao, Henry ChineseTheatre London:SOAS. Experimentalism. Zi Min - 1988. "Xuanhuayu saodong- tantanWa shiyan jutuan" Pb - iiiciifIS&S'JBI - on Frogexperimental (Noiseand disturbance dramatroupe).Zhongguoxiju no. 8: 42-43.

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Modern Chinese Literature and Culture

Anarchy and his

Accidental Rossella Ferrari

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