Chinese Opera Artists - Lin Zhaohua: The Avant-garde Director of Modern Chinese Drama

As a very controversial drama director in China, Lin Zhaohua 林兆华 is one of the most significant figures in Chinese drama history you can't ignore - whether you love him or not.

"I am realistic basically,” said Lin, “but I was not content with the stereotyped drama situations in China, because dramas have a rich content and I want others to see more patterns.”

Many people came to know Lin through Three Sisters Waiting for Godot, a modern drama that tried to integrate the two drama masterpieces brought to stage by Beijing People's Art Theater. However, Lin has produced many traditional Chinese dramas previously. But this work seemed to differ greatly from his established style. After watching the play, many audiences considered Lin as a strange old man, and agreed that he was avant-garde, an experimentalist, and a very different kind of director.

Besides his efforts on modern dramas, Lin also reveals his talents in directingPeking Opera, vocal concerts, or even evening acrobatic shows. All of these performances are with one same character - good box office.

Beginning his career as an actor, Lin later began to direct dramas. This experience has given him a better and more thorough understanding of dramas.

As the very first man to initiate the small-theater modern drama in China, Lin's style has been identified as avant-garde and experimental, but Lin does not agree with that. “The style-forming process is vivid, but once it is formed, it turns stiff. So I have no style,” said Lin.

Born in Tianjin in 1936, Lin started his career in 1951, and was transferred to the Bayi Film Studio in 1956.

Lin was admitted to the Acting Department of the Central Academy of Drama in 1957, and was allocated work at the Beijing People's Art Theater as an actor in 1961. He became a director in 1978. He was the deputy dean of the Beijing People's Art Theater in 1984, and the director of the art committee of the Beijing People's Art Theater in 1993.

Major Works

Modern dramas: Weddings and Funerals, Nirvana of Gou'erye, Bird People, Ruan Lingyu, Antiques, Tea House, Frameless Wind and Moon, Beijingers, Hamlet, The Orphan of the Zhao Family, Faust, Chess People, Three Sisters Waiting for Godot, Richard III.

Peking Opera : Turandot, The Humpbacked Prime Minister Liu.