評論
打印
I want to mention here that, in the time of Shakespeare, there was also a great Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu and both men actually passed away in the same year.
我想在這里提一下，在莎士比亞時代，還有一位偉大的中國劇作家，他的名字叫湯顯祖，二人是同年去世的。
Tang Xianzu wrote The Peony Pavilion, which has long been an inspiration to generations of Chinese playwrights and novelists, and is highly regarded as a world-class play. Nevertheless, I wonder how many in this country have heard of him, or of his work.
湯顯祖創作的《牡丹亭》一直是數代中國劇作家和小說家心中的模范之作，還被譽為世界一流的劇本。然而，我想知道在這個國家有多少人聽說過他或他的作品。
The Peony Pavilion tells much the same story as Romeo and Juliet. It combines drama and fairy tale and presents a sweet and sorrow legend of love that defies the limits of heaven and earth. It is very long, spanning 10 nights in 10 episodes. A shortened three-night version was staged by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre at Sadler's Wells last summer and was extremely well received by the British audience who filled the theatre each and every time.
《牡丹亭》和《羅密歐與朱麗葉》的故事大致相同。它結合了戲劇與童話，展現了一段甜蜜而悲傷的愛情故事，打破了天堂與人間的界限。這出戲劇很長，一共有10節，需要10個晚上才能演完。去年夏天，蘇州昆劇院在賽德勒斯維爾斯劇院演出了本劇的縮略版，花了3個晚上演完，英國觀眾對這部戲劇好評如潮，并且場場爆滿。
However, it is disappointing to note that Tang's name and his play are little known in the UK, a country which loves history and has a taste for good plays. Is it all right if we conclude that it is time the West made efforts to learn more about China?
然而令人失望的是，在英國，湯顯祖的名字和他的作品鮮為人知，盡管英國人對歷史和優秀劇作都很感興趣。是不是可以認為，現在是西方努力來更加了解中國的時候了？
