I thought I knew a lot about Hamlet. As a high school student with English literature as one of my main subjects, I have to! Shakespeare’s Hamlet is probably the most important play by the most important writer in English. Almost everybody knows 「To be, or not to be」, right? Having seen quite a few productions of Hamlet and read the play many times, I was full of confidence—until the Peking Opera came to town!
我本以為自己對《哈姆雷特》很了解。作為一名以英語文學為主課的高中生，《哈姆雷特》是我必學的內容！莎士比亞的《哈姆雷特》應該是最重要的英語作家創作的最重要的戲劇了。幾乎所有人都知道「生存，還是毀滅」，對吧？我看過好幾部《哈姆雷特》的影視作品，這部戲劇我也看了好幾遍，因此我充滿了信心——直到城裡來了京劇表演！
Dating back to the 18th century, Peking Opera has over two hundred years of history. Does this mean it’s easier than a Shakespeare play to understand? To find out the answer, I just had to go and see The Revenge of Prince Zidan—the Peking Opera version of Hamlet.
京劇的起源可以追溯到18世紀，距今已有兩百多年歷史。這是否意味著京劇比莎士比亞的戲劇更容易理解？為了找到答案，我必須去看看《王子復仇記》——京劇版的《哈姆雷特》。
Starting with an orchestra playing traditional Chinese instruments, the opera brought a completely new sound to my Western ears. At first, I thought what I heard was a violin, but later I learnt that it was an instrument with two strings called jinghu. Then, seeing the main characters come on stage, I was surprised! The costumes and masks were amazing. The performers of course sang in Chinese, but the music, exaggerated movements and mime helped get the meanings across to the audience. The voices themselves sounded really unique—some of the female voices were so high that I was sure they could break glass! And the stage was really simple:a decorated whip represented a horse, and a screen with Chinese characters, a study. Using such techniques, the opera had transformed a small stage into the whole universe.
戲一開場，是樂隊彈奏中國傳統樂器，我這個西方人的耳朵聽到了一種全新的聲音。起初，我以為我聽到的是小提琴的聲音，不過後來我才知道那是一種有兩根弦的樂器，叫做京胡。然後，看到主角登場時，我感到十分驚訝！那些服裝和臉譜都很棒。當然，演員們的唱詞是中文的，但觀眾可以藉助伴奏、誇張的動作和形體模仿來理解表演內容。那些唱腔聽起來非常獨特——有的女聲聲調如此之高，以至於我覺得可以震碎玻璃！舞臺的布置非常簡單：有裝飾的馬鞭就代表馬，寫有漢字的屏風就代表書房。通過這些方法，京劇把一個小小的舞臺變成了浩瀚的宇宙。
Easily my favourite part of the show was how the characters moved on stage. I had never seen Prince Hamlet do a backflip before! That was simply incredible. It was so dazzling and energetic that I wasn’t sure if the characters were performers or athletes! Everyone was clapping.
毫無疑問，演出中我最喜歡的部分是人物在舞臺上的動作。我從沒見過哈姆雷特王子表演後空翻！簡直太不可思議了！那眼花繚亂的動作充滿力量，我都不確定這些表演者到底是演員還是運動員！大家都使勁兒鼓掌。
Before experiencing The Revenge of Prince Zidan, I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy it. But, in fact, I was on the edge of my seat! Feeling the strong emotions of love, anger, fear and grief in the performance, I could easily recognise the theme of Hamlet. So, if you want to see a show that combines music, singing, drama, poetry and costume design with explosive effect, The Revenge of Prince Zidan ticks all the right boxes!
在親身體驗《王子復仇記》之前，我不知道自己是否會喜歡(京劇)。可事實上，我看得超級投入！通過從表演中感受到的愛、怒、懼、哀等強烈情感，我很容易就能看出《哈姆雷特》的主題。所以，如果你想看一場融合了音樂、演唱、戲劇、詩歌以及驚豔服飾的表演，那麼《王子復仇記》再合適不過了！