The National Theatre of China brings Chinese-language play Richard III to the Globe Theatre in London. Provided to China Daily

However, the NTC's first visit to the UK did not go smoothly. A shipping container with the company's costumes and props did not arrive in time for the performances, so the actors had to make do with an improvised wardrobe from the Globe.

"Despite the company losing all its intricate and colorful costumes in a cargo container en route to the UK, the show was described as spellbinding by The Arts Desk and received a four-star review from The Guardian in 2012," says Wang.

This time, in full costume, Wang moves the story of English royalty to a Chinese palace, but the personality of each character is the same as if the idea of fate.

"Shakespeare's horror show of power and paranoia is timeless and universal, and that's what I want to interpret in this Chinese adaptation," says the director.

Wang uses several methods to highlight the Chinese features of the reinterpretation, such as the inclusion of one table and two chairs, props unique to Peking Opera because they are thought to give the audience more room for imagination.

"Lady Anne is performed by a Peking Opera actress, her costume and performance is styled on Peking Opera. A live band playing traditional Chinese percussion instruments accompanies the performance," Wang says.

"This is a breakthrough," Wang says. "It is very difficult to make Peking Opera actors and drama actors perform together and perform well, but it is also what makes this play so special."

Some characters wear wooden full-face masks from Nuo opera, a 1,000-year-old opera tradition popular in southern China, he says.

The backdrop features Chinese artist Xu Bing's square-word calligraphy: a method of writing English words in rectangular arrangements so they resemble Chinese characters.

Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming, who has watched the play, says: "The Chinese version of Richard III is not merely another translation of Shakespeare's writing. It is imbued with a Chinese appreciation of the original work. The adaptation by director Wang Xiaoying incorporates elements of traditional Chinese culture. The performance is in Chinese and intends to convey the Chinese understanding of Shakespeare and his play."

The ambassador says the show is, without doubt, a great feat of innovation resulting from cultural exchanges between China and the UK, and an excellent display of how Chinese and English culture can work together seamlessly in one play.

"It is the best birthday gift from Chinese artists for next year's 400th anniversary of the great playwright," Liu says.

This show is the first significant event of the China season in the 2015 China-UK Year of Cultural Exchange.

Starting with the staging of Richard III, there will be a series of events to drive the season forward.

From Aug 17 to 23, also at the Globe, the Tang Shu-wing Theater Studio from Hong Kong will stage its brand-new production of Macbeth in Cantonese, co-commissioned by the Hong Kong Arts Festival.

"The Globe has been engaged in a conversation with Chinese theater artists since 2012, when the Globe to Globe Festival included plays in both Mandarin and Cantonese," Tom Bird, executive producer of the Globe, says.

"In 2014, our large-scale tour of A Midsummer Night's Dream traveled to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Hong Kong, incorporating traditional Chinese instruments into its musical score."

Bird says he has been impressed by Chinese people's enthusiasm and warm reception of the play.

"We are thrilled that this dialogue is continuing in 2015, as our worldwide Hamlet tour visits China, and the National Theater of China and Tang Shu-wing Studio return to the Globe, with two extraordinary shows that will appeal to British and Chinese audiences alike."

The Globe has exchanges and collaboration with several Chinese theaters.

Bird says the theater is taking its Globe to Globe Hamlet tour to Daguan Theater in Shanghai on Aug 1, the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Aug 5, and to the Lyric Theater at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts on Sept 4.

zhangchunyan@chinadaily.com.cn