Features of stage adaptations in 20th-century Chinese drama (huaju)

Abstract

Despite the widespread use of stage adaptations in contemporary Chinese huaju theater of the 20th — early 21st centuries, their theoretical understanding remains fragmented, and a systematic typology of approaches to adapting prose for the stage has not yet been developed. This article examines the strategies for creating contemporary Chinese stage adaptations and describes the motives for playwrights to turn to certain original sources, the difficulties encountered in the process, and the artistic techniques used to resolve them. The aim of the study is to classify approaches to adapting prose works for contemporary Chinese drama huaju. The methodology is based on historical-cultural, comparative-historical, comparative-typological, and biographical methods, which allow us to trace the evolution of the genre, compare different strategies for dramatic adaptation of prose, and take into account the socio-historical context of the creation of stage adaptations. In the course of the study, three strategies for writing stage adaptations were identified and characterized for the first time: a compilation of several works by one author, requiring the introduction of a connecting character and a single artistic space; the condensation of a voluminous prose work into a theatrical format by reducing the number of characters and concentrating on the key conflict; a stage adaptation by the author of their own work. The latter can be either an independent work or a dramatic form integrated into the prose work. Moreover, all the stage adaptations under consideration are not a mechanical transfer of the text, but a creative reinterpretation of the original source, generating a new dramatic work with its own artistic value. The results of this study can be used not only in courses on Chinese literature and theater, but also in the practical work of playwrights and directors, especially given the rapidly growing popularity of contemporary Chinese theater in Russia.

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