Whatever would William Shakespeare make of it all if he were to journey now through Asia, where the interpretations of his works differ so much across vast regions, ethnic groups, cultures and languages?
Since the 1990s, in the field of Shakespeare studies non-Anglophone productions of the Bard's works have emerged as new territories to be explored on both page and stage. Numerous Asian theater practitioners have translated, adapted and directed the plays, and audiences, scholars and critics have witnessed and written about their work.
The inaugural conference of the Asian Shakespeare Association, dubbed Shakespearean Journeys, was held May 15-18 in Taipei in response to a call from Bi-qi Beatrice Lei, an associate professor at the National Taiwan University — who now chairs the ASA — to establish "a nonprofit, nongovernment organization dedicated to researching, producing, teaching, translating and promoting Shakespeare from an Asian perspective." It tied in with this year's 450th anniversary of the birth of that poet and dramatist supreme, whose life spanned 1564-1616.