1、MEET HAMLET NEAR YOUR HOMEWhen Zhang Yifan enrolled in the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing to start his masters degree， he was given a set of textbooks containing a number of the worlds classic dramas. There were four plays by William Shakespeare among themHamlet， King Lear， Macbeth and Twelfth
2、Night. “I had watched different performances of Hamlet and had even taken part in an informal performance in college， but I had always wanted to watch a performance by a British theater group to see how a director and actors from Shakespeares home country interpreted this classic. Shakespeare will b
3、e the mas- ter of drama forever.” Zhangs wish was soon to be fulfilled. A live broadcast As one of the top events planned during the 2015 China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange， the National Theater Live （NT Live） first came to China in 2015. NT Live was launched in London in June 2009 and has set out t
4、o broadcast National Theater productions to audiences around the world. Every live performance is filmed， featuring close-ups as well as camera sweeps that cover the entire stage， offering its viewers an enhanced experience. Since June 2015， NT Live in China has shown over 10 British theatrical prod
5、uctions in more than 20 cities throughout the country. It has toured top-tier metropolises on the Chinese mainland such as Beijing， Shanghai and Guangzhou. The program has expanded to some cities in Taiwan as well. In Beijing， more than 150 screenings of the plays have been held， accounting for 45，0
6、00 views at the Beijing Peoples Art Theater， Peking University Hall， China Film Archive and two other cinemas. “NT Live in China is a cooperative project co-presented by the National Theater of China and the British National Theater. From our perspective， we want the project not only to cover big ci
7、ties with booming markets， but also to bring first-rate productions to cities like Wuhan and Suzhou， which are covered by few touring international theater groups， ” said Li Zongzhou， general agent of NT Live in China. Since 2016 marks the 400th anniversary of Shakespeares death， to salute the maste
8、r， NT Live in China introduced three of Shakespeares four great tragediesHamlet， King Lear and Othello. “I was so excited when I received the news that I could watch an authentic British version of Shakespeares works in Beijing， ” Zhang said. “It was not easy to get a ticket， ” Zhang claimed. “Even
9、after all the tickets sold out， a lot of people waited， hoping that somebody would return their tickets.” According to Zhang， one of the reasons why the tickets were selling like hot cakes was the large number of Juan Fu fans in China. Juan Fu is British actor Benedict Cumberbatchs nickname in China
10、. Cumberbatch was given the pet name because of the curly locksjuan in Chinesehe sported in the TV series Sherlock， wherein he played the famous detective. Fu refers to the shortening of the name Holmes in Chinese， and also means “lucky.” The three-part series set in the present day and screened in
11、2010， 2012 and 2014 won Benedict legions of fans all over the world. Cumberbatchs profile has grown since Sherlock， but he has nonetheless chosen to return to the stage to play Hamlet， a role he had always wanted to enact. When asked why he wanted to play the role， he said it was because of his “age
12、， life experience， and most importantly， the opportunity to bring to a new audience a 400-year-old piece of brilliance and to try and make Shakespeare as relevant now as he has been.” The interview with Cumberbatch was also aired through NTs live recordings. “I think everybody has a Hamlet in them.
13、There is universality to the challenge of him. It means its a role that fits any actor， ” he said. The whole play and the characters were set in a contemporary environment. When Hamlet appeared in modern clothes， it may have thrown the audience off at first， but as the royal family began appearing i
14、n suits， people began to understand the directors intentions. Perhaps Lyndsey Turner， the director， thought the incidents in Hamlets story could occur at any time and be understood by people of any age. Daily Mail， a British newspaper， commented that Cumberbatchs “Hamlet in a hoodie was electrifying
15、” and that his acting“veered from moments of genuinely hilarious comedy to plunge down to the very depths of throat-scalding tragedy.” “In Benedicts interpretation， I saw a sublime prince who pushed love away to pursue an inexplicable goal， ” Zhang said after watching the play at the China Film Arch
16、ive. “The high-definition shooting allowed me to see a lot of details， even though I could only follow the camera and missed the full stage. It was still a wonderful experience， and most importantly， I watched a modern British Hamlet in Beijing.” The road ahead One of the problems regarding broadcas
17、ting NT Live abroad is manifested through the need to provide accurate subtitles. Though professional audio recording technology ensures that every word on stage is audible， audiences in non-English-speaking countries still need subtitles to understand the plot. “Most of the subtitle translation use
18、d by NT Live was done in the UK by an authorized agent， ” said Li. “Technology-wise， it is more convenient to complete subtitle translations and timeline production in the UK， but from this year， especially after the Beijing International Film Festival in April， we are trying to find professional tr
19、anslators to work on the translations so that the dialogue is much more accessible to the Chinese audience.” NT Live in China is a long-term program， though its Shakespearean season lasted until April. From May， a series of comedies will be shown， and Shakespeares As You Like It is included in the l
20、ist. From July， NT Live in China will begin its second-year plan， aiming to show more British theatrical performances to audiences in different cities throughout China. The National Theater of China， one of NT Lives production partners in China， has realized the promotional effectiveness of NT Live. It is now planning to record productions of Chinese drama with the help of excellent technology and broadcast them worldwide.
