Shanghai-based fans of both theories of the structural contradictions of capitalist society and show tunes will soon be delighted: the general manager of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre, Yang Shaolin, recently announced that he will adapt Karl Marx's classic Das Kapital for the stage. The show, to be performed in 2010, will mix elements from popular comics, Las Vegas-style shows, and Broadway musicals to produce an "educational, entertaining, and modern version" of Karl Marx's 19th-century classic, Yang Shaolin said.
He Nian, the play's director, is best known for his martial arts parody My Own Swordsman. However, Yang Shaolin says this play will not tangle with Marxist orthodoxy. "I picked He Nian because he understands what youth want, and because he can complete what I want completed," Yang Shaolin said. Yang Qianwu, the secretary-general of the Beijing Dramatists Union, said: "Yang Shaolin's a Communist and a member of the Party. He's not going to be too extreme."
Das Kapital has, surprisingly enough, spawned other stage adaptations. The German "documentary theatre" collective Rimini Protokoll staged their version in Tokyo last month. Kapital: Volume One features amateurs, all of whom have read the mammoth Das Kapital cover to cover, discussing the effect Marx has on their lives. To further the experience, everyone in the audience receives a copy of Volume 23 of the Collected Works of Marx and Engels.
The current version takes its inspiration from a bestselling Japanese manga adaptation of Das Kapital, which was published in December. The main character, Robin, runs a cheese factory. He rebels against his socialist father and, because of a bad capitalist influence, exploits his workers. Internally, he battles between the riches offered by capitalism and his responsibility to his workers. "I might not do it exactly that way," said Yang Shaolin. "If there is an internal link between texts, our play will be linked to the original." To preserve the Marxist spirit, Yang put together a team of experts, including Zhang Jun, the Chang-Jiang professor of economics at Fudan University and director of the China Center for Economic Studies. "Almost 30 years ago, I was a student at Fudan studying economics, and the first thing I learnt was Das Kapital," Zhang said.
"He is an expert on Marxism," Yang Shaolin said, "and I am an expert on the theatre." Theatre, however, is less than popular in China. "New York City has over 1,000 theatres. Beijing has around 20, Shanghai even less," said Liang Dan Dan, a producer at the Ordinary People Theater, one of the capital's only private theatres, a lively space located just around the corner from a trendy avenue of bars and shops. "Partially because of this, tickets for theatre performances are very expensive."
"In big theatres, tickets often go for more than 300 yuan (Dh161) each, or around 80 yuan (Dh43) in smaller theatres, which can still be unaffordable," says Yang Qianwu. Yang Shaolin plans to price tickets at around 150 yuan (Dh81), "so that they are within the reach of a white collar Shanghai worker". Theatre of a more experimental nature is still the exception rather than the rule. "At first I thought it was a joke," said Raymond Zhou. "I'm not sure if it will pass the censors, because to use Karl Marx in the title might be sacrilegious to some."
Yang Shaolin is not too worried. "If we keep within the legal framework, it's fine. In every country, if you exceed the law, it's a problem." Yang Shaolin says the play as arises out of a combination of two factors: the economic crisis and the openness of drama in China today. "Every time I open a magazine, a newspaper, I always see something about the economic crisis. I've been thinking about what's the best economic system to deal with problem. But 20 years ago, even 10 years ago, we couldn't express something related to the crisis with the theatrical. Now, because of the developments in the theatre, we can."