A New Exploration of Shakespeare’s Plays on the Shanghai Stage in the Late Qing Dynasty and Its Significance (1860—1891)

Stage performance was an important part of Shakespeare’s trans-cultural diffusion, however, in the late Qing Dynasty, the performance of Shakespeare’s plays has been relatively missing. The author dug into the English press and discovered that since the 1860s, western actors had performed Hamlet at the Lyceum theatre in Shanghai. In the 1880s and 1890s, it developed into professional theatre company such as Bandmann and Miln performing Shakespeare plays such as Merchant of Venice, Othello, Romeo and Juliet and so on. In addition to the formal stage performances, there were Shakespeare themed parties organized by the Concession Club and public lectures organized by the Church to present the artistic charm of Shakespeare’s plays in a variety of forms, including performances, readings, singing and lectures. The stage performance of Shakespeare’s plays in the late Qing Dynasty couldn’t be ignored, which improved the quality of the western Chinese plays, brought a new atmosphere to the Shanghai theatre and made the Chinese audience initially feel the artistic charm of the world’s classic plays.