Seeking Subalterneity in S. I. Hsiung’s Lady Precious Stream, 1934

Abstract

Hsiung Shih-yi, a professor and translator of English Literature, came to Britain in 1933 to further his academic career. After arriving in London, he achieved fame with his play Lady Precious Stream, a spoken drama adaptation of a Chinese opera Lady Precious Bracelet (Wang Bao Chuan), which opened in London on 22 November 1934. The author argues that Lady Precious Stream may have been sufficiently exotic to excite interest, but this ‘traditional Chinese play’ was anything but traditional. The first production fused Chinese and British dramatic styles to create something both exotic and familiar to British audiences in a way that was more sophisticated than the plays discussed so far in this study. The author also analyses the visit of Mei Lanfang – China’s most celebrated opera actor – to London. The author concludes that Mei’s time in London was a personal failure: he was unable to transcend the barriers placed in his way, possibly because theatre impresarios understood that British audiences preferred chinoiserie. However, in his support for Hsiung’s endeavours, Mei demonstrated a commitment to raising China’s profile through the international performance of Peking opera. The author concludes with an analysis of Hsiung’s second – and final – attempt to stage Chinese opera in London. The Western Chamber, based upon Jin Shengtan’s Xixiang Ji, was a commercial failure, demonstrating how London audiences preferred to consume Chinese opera as amusement and chinoiserie, rather than as a serious alternative to Western dramaturgy.