Novelty of Lin Zhaohua’s play “All people are Hamlets”

Abstract

The “Hamlet 1990” directed by Lin Zhaohua represents a variant of the Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. The title of the play hints to the spirit of creative search and novelty, characteristic for the theater era of the 1990s. It was a specific socially transformative period, when “various Soviet-style creative positions were sacrificed” and china moved towards independent thinking and development of social reforms. It is possible that “Hamlet” performed in 1990 reflected these trends in social transformations, which led to the director’s interpretation and restructuring of Shakespeare’s play based on new views and independent aesthetic perception. “Revenge is a scene, a story” and the director acts as the storyteller; it is up to him how this story will be told. In accordance with methodology of the formal school, the author conducts a reconstruction of this play and analyses the scenic texts from the perspective of modern Chinese theater, as well as from the position of director’s style. “Hamlet 1990” directed by Lin Zhaohua became a new word in theatrical arts. In an open scenic space, the connection between the actors and the viewers is not unidirectional, but is two-way; there is an effect of transfer of psychological payload and emotional interaction between them.