Authorized high-definition videos of Japanese theater director Yukio Ninagawa’s stage plays, “Ninagawa Macbeth” and “Julius Caesar,” will be screened at the theater in Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center.
A scene from “Julius Caesar.”
Ninagawa (1935-2016) is known for his Japanese-language productions of Shakespeare plays and Greek tragedies. He directed “Hamlet” differently eight times.
In 1974, the Toho theater producer Tadao Nakane invited Ninagawa to direct big theaters and as a result he came to work on a Shakespeare play for the first time — “Romeo and Juliet.” Since then, he has become one of the most feted directors in the theater world. In the 1990s he had been invited to present a play each year in London. In addition he had collaborated with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1999 to 2000 and presented “King Lear” at London and Stratford-upon-Avon.
“Ninagawa Macbeth” was first seen at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1985 and subsequently as part of International 87 at the National Theater in London. Transposing the action to a 16th-century samurai world, this staging of Shakespeare’s bloody tragedy unfolds in war-torn Japan. Moving through a series of breathtaking images, its total effect is the stuff of theater history.
Time: 7:30 p.m., April 26 (“Macbeth”), 27 (“Julius Caesar”)
Tickets: 99-199 yuan
Venue: Nanshan Cultural and Sports Center, 2106 Nanshan Boulevard, Nanshan District (南山區(qū)南山大道2106號南山文體中心)
Metro: Line 1 to Taoyuan Station (桃園站), Exit B