The purpose of this paper is to address the critical impact of local Shakespeare on global Shakespeare by examining a Japanese-Korean adaptation of Othello. Incorporating elements of Korean shamanistic ritual and elements from Japanese noh to create a new reading of Shakespeare's play with its special concern with Desdemona's soul, the two theatres interact powerfully with each other. Local Shakespeare functions as a cultural catalyst for the two nations vexed with historical problems. By translating and relocating Shakespeare's Othello in East Asia, the adaptation succeeds in recreating Shakespeare's play for contemporary local audiences. In considering the adaptation, this paper explores the vital importance of local Shakespeare and local knowledge for the sake of global Shakespeare as a critical potential. The adaptation might evoke a divided response among a non-local audience. While on the one hand, it attempts to create an 'original' production of the Shakespeare play through employing the two Asian cultures, on the other, it employs the Shakespeare play as a conduit for their cultural exchange. This is, and is not, Shakespeare. The paper finally suggests that for all this ambivalence, the adaptation shows some respectful, if unfamiliar, feelings that could be shared by many people around the globe..

Although cognitive science is an interdisciplinary field, its central questions are ‘what is humanity?’ and ‘what is emotion?’ Since the field of theatre and performing arts is deeply concerned with humans and emotions, we expect that it will contribute to the understanding of these concepts. Immersive theatre is an experimental performance form that emphasizes site, space and design while immersing spectators in a play. The number of immersive theatre companies or productions has been growing worldwide. This paper discusses Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More, directed by Felix Barrett and performed in London (2003), New York (2011-) and Shanghai (2016-). While elucidating the cognitive impact of immersive Shakespeare performances on spectators, this paper aims to uncover new artistic and cultural value in Shakespeare plays performed in an experimental form in order to advance their contemporary relevance.

Yukio Ninagawa was expected to achieve in a few years the great milestone of directing the complete collection of Shakespeare plays in new Japanese translations. This paper reconsiders Ninagawa's direction from a global/local perspective with a special focus on several last works directed by him: Richard II, performed by young players of the Saitama Next Theater in February 2012, which was especially intended for the local Japanese audience; Ninagawa Macbeth, which was performed in September 2015 and was a revival of the director's internationally-acclaimed production, first performed in Japan in 1980 and abroad in 1985 onwards; and Two Gentlemen of Verona, the thirty-first in his series of Shakespeare plays and seventh in his series of Shakespeare plays with all-male casts, in October 2015. His last plays were not as perfect as he was still experimenting. This paper concludes, however, that while possessed by the power of theater, his direction emits its magical and subversive power and suggestion to give the audience vital energy to live in this world of tough conflicts. He continued to hope to make global and local spectators wonder at the plays he directed.

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