ABSTRACT
On 10 December, 1981, in the Cartoucherie de Vincennes, France, a medieval English court scene was being created by a group of French performers in eclectic costumes bursting – like Kabuki actors – through a paper screen. This performance marked the beginning of an era of intensified European-Asian cultural cross-currents around Shakespeare’s works. The history of Asian Shakespeares in Europe is part of the revived European interest in Asia and the long-standing tradition of performing Shakespeare in various European languages. This chapter examines the logic behind the production and reception of East Asian Shakespeares in Europe. Whether “made in Europe” or “imported from Asia,” these performances have compelled Anglo-European audiences to negotiate the unfamiliar and foreign forms of the familiar and “local” canon that is Shakespeare. Asian Shakespeares in Europe have evolved from something that is unfamiliar to something that is familiarly known at major festivals but that needs to be defamiliarised again, with Ninagawa being a prominent example.
