Mobilities, Identities and Diversities: Contemporary Interpretations of a Canonical Chinese Play in Singapore

Globalization increases mobilities and multiplies identities in Asia. Singapore, a city state with diverse Asian communities, amplifies this trend. In the 1990s, Singapore recruited large numbers of Western educated Chinese scholars, who formed new diasporas across Asia and became catalyst for further cultural diversities. This multifaceted Asian phenomenon can be best exemplified in Chinese scholar-director Grant Shen’s contemporary productions of the traditional Chinese opera—The West Wing (2008, 2016). This study discusses issues of mobilities, identities, and diversities through The West Wing, in which the performers are predominantly from Asian diasporas. The mobility of Grant Shen from China to Singapore via the US diversifies his cultural identity, at once rooted deeply in Chinese culture while openly embracing Western liberalism and Singaporean plurality. His theatre productions, boldly adopting pop music, employing trendy language, and recreating pro-feminist scenes, vividly attest to cultural diversities. Identity issues come to the fore when this well-received play in Singapore toured Shanghai, where it was welcomed by the young but frowned upon by others as subversive to Chinese tradition. This study views the multiplicity of Singapore as a fertile land for productions foretelling the plural future Asia.