Feature: British theatrical actor back on Chinese stage 45 years later

By Xinhua writer Tian Ying

BEIJING, July 19 (Xinhua) -- British actor Terence Wilton remembers vividly when they first visited China with the stage play Hamlet in 1979, the young actors and actresses were so excited that they "kissed the ground" upon arrival.

Fourty-five years later, the 81-year-old actor revisited the Chinese mainland to tread the boards once again as a judge in the new theatrical adaptation of the Agatha Christie thriller "And Then There Were None."

As the nearly-three-month China tour of the original London West End play drew to an end this week, Wilton shared with Xinhua that his two visits felt like two seemingly drastically different "spectrums."

During the tour, 68 performances have been staged in 13 cities across China from May to July, attracting an attendance of over 60,000, and captivating Chinese theatrical enthusiasts as well as Agatha Christie fans with its intricate plot and authentic British flair.

Among the 13 cities, Beijing and Shanghai registered the highest attendance. Each performance in Beijing had an average audience of over 1,400 people, and Shanghai's 1,800-seat theatre registered an average attendance rate of over 92 percent.

Wilton said of his second visit, "The excitement for me was that I had been to Shanghai and Beijing before, not just before, but with the first foreign production of theater that had ever been allowed into China since 1949, which was an enormous privilege."

Reform and opening-up started in 1978. The rare chance to play a Shakespearean character on a Chinese stage at that time was an unforgettable chapter in Wilton's career.

"We must have performed Hamlet to more people in one night than it was ever witnessed for a Shakespeare production," he averred.

The visit to Beijing and Shanghai in the winter of 1979, the two cities Hamlet was staged, left in his mind lingering images including "everyone in cotton-padded uniforms, in greens, blues and greys," "the coal-fired cities," "people cycling in millions through the city," "everything being carried by hand or in handcart or bicycles," and in particular, people using streets of Beijing as refrigerators for Chinese cabbages.

"The China we've come across this time has astonished us," said Wilton. They were astonished by the architecture, the vast number of battery-driven cars and scooters on the streets, and "how pollution-free China is."

However, what impressed him the most this time around was the young and "very intelligent" Chinese audience "who all speak wonderful English." While the only people who can afford to go to theater in the United Kingdom are those who have retired, according to Wilton, their audience in China are extremely young.

"It seems to me they asked extremely intelligent questions about the play we're doing and about the book, and they seem to have read Agatha Christie," said Wilton, "That has been enchanting."

What remains unchanged is the warm welcome he received. "What I would emphasize is we've had as warm welcome now as we had been, we were incredibly well received and treated as we had in 1979," Wilton said.

The British actor recalled his friendship with late translator and performance artist Ying Ruocheng, who was among five Chinese actors who did their voices in Beijing back in 1979. "He was with us throughout the trip and we became great friends."

This time, Wilton visited the prestigious Beijing People's Art Theater to revisit the stage where he performed in 1979, and was received by the president of the Theater Feng Yuanzheng. "I was astonished by the reception I had by the director who came out of rehearsals to meet me," said Wilton.

He was given a book by Feng with photographs from the Hamlet production, including group photos, photos of the banquets and activities they attended during the 1979 visit. "I wept a little bit," the British actor shared.

Wilton was especially delighted to be accompanied by his wife during their China tour this time. His wife Lucy Tregear co-stars in the play as the female butler Georgina Rogers, shared with fans at a meet-and-greet event in Hangzhou the one thing she loves about China.

"At the end of every show, when we turned back for the photo opportunity with the audience, every light from every phone is lit up, It was like looking into the night sky," said Tregear, "I have performed in different countries around the world, but I've never experienced that."