BEIJING -- In a nation unaccustomed to public debate over its leader's wisdom, an ambitious Chinese stage production is placing tyranny, rebellion and their consequences on trial each night through a classic American drama.
Since mid-October, a Chinese version of 'The Caine Mutiny Court Martial,' adapted from Herman Wouk's Pulitzer Prize-winning tale of duty and dishonor aboard a World War II U.S. Navy ship, has been drawing packed houses at a Beijing theater.
'Huabian,' or 'Mutiny,' is only the second time a famous American -- actor Charlton Heston -- has directed a major Broadway import in Chinese. Five years ago, playwright Arthur Miller brought over his 'Death of a Salesman.'
Heston, who recently directed 'Mutiny' in London, says he took the two-month, expenses-only job as an 'irresistible challenge.' Although his craggy face has loomed at places like the Great Wall in the 1962 film '55 Days at Peking,' he is largely unknown to the world's biggest film audience.
He was convinced to become involved by the sponsors, Bette Bao Lord, a best-selling author and wife of U.S. ambassador to China Winston Lord, and American producer James Doolittle. The two personally financed the production, part of Lord's longtime interest in cultural exchange.
As a rare window on foreign theater, 'Mutiny' has already won acclaim for the 19-member cast from the pioneering Peoples Art Theater, which has staged shows ranging from Shakespeare to 'Amadeus.'
Despite having seen only the 'Caine Mutiny' film, never the play, the Chinese script and cast captured its complexities so aptly that Wouk, in Beijing for the premiere, exultantly climbed on stage afterward and called it a 'brilliant spark.'
But the 1950s drama is striking some unexpected chords, coincidentally opening while the country is grappling with economic and social problems that have put some of the play's central themes into the minds of many Chinese.
The trial is of an officer who takes over the ship from a mentally unstable captain, Queeg. The defense attorney wins by breaking Queeg on the witness stand, leaving him ranting about missing strawberries.
In rehearsals, a telling moment came as the Chinese actors began to explore the gray areas of challenging authority in a society that has never had democracy.
To shorten the running time, Heston suggested cutting a defense lawyer's line saying rebellion has its time and place but must be carefully weighed. The actor playing the role balked.
'He insisted it be left in,' Heston recalled in an interview. 'He wanted to voice that there are times when you have to speak out against unwise authority, but questioning when its proper. He said every Chinese would respond to that.'
Historically, the theme evokes the one-time deification of Mao Tse-tung and of the Cultural Revolution, when unquestioned power was abused and turned the country upside down.
With China now suffering record inflation, widespread official corruption and public discontent that has raised fears of social unrest, the play may stimulate wider debate.
'If the government really understood this, they'd never have let it go on,' said a young Chinese doctor.
Yet while 'Mutiny' was not vetted by propaganda authorities, it had the blessing of Vice Minister of Culture Ying Ruocheng, China's best known actor, who spent months translating the script.
'The question mark is still there,' acknowledged Ying, who starred in 'Salesman' and more recently in the 'The Last Emperor' as a jailer. 'This is the most ambitious thing we've ever done.'
The obstacles were daunting.
Along with disparate cultural views of even universal themes, the Chinese have only recently begun to reassert the importance of psychology and law. A Chinese court is actually more like a play, where a script predetermines the verdict.
Although Wouk's 'Winds of War' is popular in China and 'Mutiny' had been excerpted by the military, the play is generally unknown to the Chinese. Heston speaks no Chinese and the actors speak no English. Besides using an interpreter, Heston rehearsed by acting out each part in English.
One line was deliberately changed -- Queeg's statement that when he took over the Caine, it was so disorganized 'it was like the Chinese Navy.' Substituted was a phrase that approximates 'it was an unruly rabble.'
Even technical items were difficult. Lord had to persuade an anonymous American to donate hard-to-find U.S. Navy uniforms. Heston had a prop model warship made specially in California.
The show's success represents what Mrs. Lord, previously frustrated in bringing Broadway to China, called a 'revelation.' She hopes to use it to launch a cultural exchange foundation lasting beyond the Lords' departure from Beijing at year's end.
'We wanted to show something solid in American culture,' she said. 'Not just rock stars, paperback books, breakdancing. We hope this will build something that will last.'
