The Hong Kong Repertory Theatre: An Interview with Daniel Yang

Abstract

Dr. Daniel S. P. Yang was born in China and raised in Taiwan, where he received his bachelor's degree. He earned his MFA in directing from the University of Hawaii and his Ph.D. in Asian theatre history from the University of Wisconsin. In 1967, he joined the faculty of the University of Colorado's Department of Theatre and Dance, where he remained for over two decades; in 1978 he was elected chairman. Ultimately, he gained renown as a leading scholar and director of Chinese opera-staging several remarkably faithful productions with American student actors-and, from 1976, as the producing artistic director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, for which he had begun staging plays several years earlier. From 1983 to 1985, while on a two-year leave of absence from Colorado, he was artistic director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre. He resumed his former duties in Colorado from 1985 to 1990, but left to accept a five-year contract as artistic director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre. In 1985, Dr. Yang became a consultant to the National Theatre of Taiwan, for which he has directed such plays as The Importance of Being Earnest and Death of a Salesman. Dr. Yang is also a noted amateur performer of kunqu and has performed opposite major kunqu stars. Daniel Yang was interviewed on audiotape in Beijing and Hong Kong on December 9, 1991. The interview begins with Dr. Yang's background commentary on the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre.