Shakespeare Global / Local: The Hong Kong Imaginary in Transcultural Production

Shakespeare has been introduced to Hong Kong and China for more than one hundred years. Not only are Shakespeare's characters and stories known to the Chinese as part of the most treasured wealth of world culture, his plays have also become classics of the Chinese theatre, both in the modern and traditional styles. The significance of Shakespeare in Hong Kong and China today can be seen in the fact that the playwright has actually become a site of contestation between the global and the local imaginary in transcultural production. Various possibilities in staging Shakespeare's plays provide Hong Kong and Chinese theatre directors valuable opportunities to exercise their imagination in the transcultural contexts of experimenting with a Western form that can be adapted for local appreciation, which at the same time will add a new dimension to the world reception of Shakespeare.