When East meets West on the stage: Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu

A Midsummer Night's DREAMING Under the Southern Bough made a splash in Beijing Tuesday. Students from the University of Leeds performed a contemporary adaptation based on the Chinese ancient play Nanke Ji. [Photo by Zhu Xingxin/ China Daily]

William Shakespeare, the renowned British playwright whose dramas are known across the world; and Tang Xianzu, the famed ancient Chinese opera writer with his works passed on through generations. What happens when the masterpieces of these two are put together?

A cross-cultural drama project "Shakespeare-Tang project: Celebrating a 400 year legacy", which made a splash in Beijing Tuesday evening, answers just that.  

The project, held by the University of Leeds in the UK and the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in China, brings a new artistic creation "A Midsummer Night's DREAMING Under the Southern Bough" onto the stage, connecting Shakespeare's classic A Midsummer Night's Dream and Tang Xianzu's Nanke Ji in a unique way, to mark the 400th anniversary of the deaths of the two legendary playwrights.