Famed US theater master Wilson teams up with young Chinese actors for 'Hamletmachine'

Internationally famed experimental theater master Robert Wilson brought his postmodernist play "Hamletmachine" to Huichang Theater Village in Ganzhou, southeastern Jiangxi Province.

As part of the theater village's "Artist in Residence" project, Wilson selected young Chinese actors and worked with them on a new Chinese version of the play, which premiered during the Huichang 003 Theater Season.

At the age of 83, America's – or even the world's – foremost vanguard theater artist not only unreservedly demonstrated and shared his theatrical creation techniques during rehearsals, but also articulated his theatrical philosophy in several exchanges with audiences and theater enthusiasts.

This included insights on how to listen to silence, how to perceive the passage of time, and how to imbue the stage with depth and layers.

Wilson has long been renowned as a master of stage visuals, whose past works are deeply intertwined with installation art, opera, and digital media, yet remain profoundly abstract.

"I don't intend to convey anything through my work," he said. "If we already have a clear definition of something, there's no need to present it again. Audiences should develop their own interpretations of what they see and feel – that is how each of us becomes unique."

Even when confronting audiences in this small provincial Chinese town – many of whom had no prior exposure to avant-garde theater – Wilson continued to assert his distinctive aesthetic, emphasizing his affinity for "emptiness" and spatial dynamics.

Meanwhile, he hailed the diversity of performances and artists gathered at the theater village.

"Diversity is the lifeblood of theater," he observed. "If we were all the same, it would be dreadfully boring."

Huichang is the hometown of famed theater director and playwright Stan Lai's father. Huichang Theater Village was officially opened last year, gathering works by national and international troupes for visitors and Huichang residents.

Other recommended works at the ongoing Huichang 003 Theater Season include the immersive play "Beckett in the Lai Family Mansion," which consists of four short plays by Samuel Beckett directed by Lai.

"The Mariana Trench" by Hong Kong's Theater Ronin focuses on the Chinese port city's once-unique occupation "majie" (maidservants who remained unmarried for life). There are also a handful of open-air shows by foreign troupes like Cie Gratte-ciel and Les Grandes Personnes, both from France.