曲對"荒誕劇"有過兩次改編,分別是1982年魏子云改編自《椅子》的《席》和2005年當代傳奇劇場的《等待果陀》。雖然看似相去甚遠,但戲曲與荒誕劇在思想背景和表演形態上均可呼應,如禪宗思想和丑角代表的喜劇精神。《席》的主創并未深挖尤奈斯庫與中國文化的共性,加之缺乏統籌的導演,作品淪為創新不足的應景之作;而當代傳奇劇場的團隊在高揚藝術家主體性的同時,充分把握原著的精髓和京劇的長短,突破劇種對演員的限制,豐富了戲曲跨文化改編的可能性。由此亦見對話原則和藝術家能動性對跨文化戲曲改編的重要意義。

There have been two cases of xiqu’s adaptation of plays from the so-called theatre of the absurd,one of which is Wei Zi-Yun’s adaptation of Eugène Ionesco’s The Chairs in 1982 and the other Contemporary Legend Theatre’s adaptation of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot in 2005.Absurdist plays and xiqu have much in common,particularly their relationship with Zen Buddhism and the comic spirit embodied by the clown(chou).This was ignored in The Feast,the adaptation of The Chairs,and emphasized in Waiting for Godot.With no director to coordinate various parties,The Feast lost what it could have obtained from Ionesco.On the other hand,artists in Contemporary Legend Theatre highlighted their subjectivity and an understanding of both Beckett and jingju(Beijing Opera),which ended in a creative violation of jingju’s conventions.Thus the encounter between xiqu and theatre of the absurd in2005 opened a new ground for intercultural xiqu,which demands the principle of dialogue and the valorization of artists’ agency.