Jiawei Li (李佳偉) is currently a PhD student in the Department of Translation at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she is preparing a thesis on modern Chinese drama and performance history in the 1920s with a focus on translation. She has also participated in one annual project and one translation of a Chinese academic project sponsored by the National Social Science Fund of China 2019.
On 18 May 1929, Xinyou Drama Society staged Leonid Andreev’s The Waltz of the Dogs, which was translated and directed by Zhu Rangcheng. The choice of the playtext was different from those staged by Shanghai amateur drama groups, so were the translation methods adopted. Zhu Rangcheng expected to educate the audience by showing them real art, so he chose what he thought to be of high artistic value and tried to represent the original in his translation. Referring to several less-used or unknown sources, this article first analyzes the features presented in the production of the play, and then explores the reasons behind and the impact it had on both Xinyou and other amateur drama groups in Shanghai. The production of The Waltz of the Dogs reveals the dynamic and interactive nature of the translation activities on Shanghai stage.