Shakespeare wrote in The Tempest: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep." British actor Barrie Rutter has always lived his dream, and this year marks a special highlight in his long and distinguished career.

The veteran performer was part of the cast of Old Vic Theater's Hamlet in 1979 when the company visited Beijing and Shanghai. It was the first visit by a Western theater group after the "cultural revolution" (1966-76). Now Rutter is back to perform The Tempest, this time with his own troupe, the Northern Broadsides.

He remembers vividly the 1979 visit to China as "a very emotional and spine-tingling experience". It left a strong impression. "We were greeted with enthusiasm and outstanding hospitality. It was a great welcome both on and off the stage," he says.

British actor Barrie Rutter plays Prospero in Shakespeare's classic work The Tempest. The play also features Sarah Cattle (left) as Miranda. File photos 

Rutter says he received a similar warm welcome this January when he stepped off the plane at the greatly changed Shanghai airport. Now Beijing audiences are ready to be entertained by the brilliance of Rutter's Bard.

Rutter formed Northern Broadsides after working for more than a decade each with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.

His new company quickly became the darling of critics. "The true, beating heart of British theatre," said The Daily Mail and "the best Shakespeare around" wrote The Independent on Sunday.

The company's repertoire is made up of Shakespeare and classical texts and 15 years on, the ensemble has blossomed into a multi-award-winning group, which has toured India, Brazil, the United States, Greece, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Austria and Denmark.

"The core values of alacrity, gusto, inventiveness, and a desire to always have a good time with an audience, whether it be the tears of woe in King Lear or the tears of joy in The Tempest, has always been our overriding desire," Rutter says.

Shakespeare wrote the work in 1611 and it was to be his last. The Tempest tells a story of love, revenge, humor and forgiveness. A ship flounders in a mighty storm stirred up by the magician, Prospero.

His mortal enemies are washed ashore onto an enchanted island inhabited by spirits and half monsters. Intent on exacting revenge, Prospero invokes a fantastical sequence of events, the climax of which is beyond his wildest imaginings.

Northern Broadsides will emphasize the musical aspect of The Tempest, the play with the most songs among the Bard's works.

The cast is all acting, all singing, and the instruments will include the musical saw, the hang drum (percussion instrument with harmony) and a walking double bass.

"The text is exactly what we believe to be Shakespeare's words," Rutter says. "However, given the panache, delivery and musical element, which this production embraces, its sound has a very modern feel and is very accessible."

The Tempest will be the third English-language drama that Beijing Milky Way Arts & Communications Company presents after TNT Theater, another British troupe, performed Oliver Twist and A Midsummer Night's Dream in March and May. Chinese theater organizers say the foreign talent offers locals an insight into the world's best practices.

"We have been presenting performances by theater groups from the UK because there's much for Chinese theater workers to learn from their British counterparts," says Cui Yang, general manager of Milky Way. "At the same time, English-language plays always have good markets in Beijing."

In May this year, TNT Theater's three performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream almost sold out the 2,167-seat Peking University Hall.

Cui says the audiences for English-language plays consist of three groups: foreigners who live in Beijing; theater enthusiasts, especially local aspiring university actors and students studying English.

The play will be staged at the Capital Theater of Beijing from June 21 to 24.

(China Daily June 12, 2007)