Spicy opera serves up many different courses
It was a pivotal moment of East-meets-West culture on Beijing's art stage. At the Forbidden City, acclaimed director Zhang Yimou and his international crew staged Puccini's opera, Turandot. That same week, Sichuan dramatist Wei Minglun presented Chinese Princess Du Landuo - his adaptation of Puccini's famous work.
The simultaneous staging in 1998 was described as a "cultural confrontation" by some in the press. But Wei's version of the Italian love story Puccini set in the Forbidden City took the theater by storm, and later toured Australia.
Chinese Princess Du Landuo revived the historical style of Chuanju Opera, which, like other classical dramatic arts, had struggled to attract modern audiences. Instead of Western arias and symphonies, Wei's Chuanju makeover of Turandot - performed by the Zigong Chuanju Opera Troupe - featured dazzling stunts and the distinctive local flavor of Southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Wei, a Sichuan-based playwright hailed as the "wizard of the Chinese opera community", worked with esteemed writer Yu Qiuyu as artistic director. Wei says the staging was not confrontational, but rather an intimate dialogue between East and West.
He says the Italian Puccini wrote a story about a Chinese princess and adopted Chinese folk music, Jasmine Flower. Likewise, Chuanju Opera is keen to absorb the essence of Western culture. It is a mutual studying process for each other, he says.
Chinese Princess Du Landuo won several local awards before taking its strong cast and fabulous costumes to Australia. This revamped version introduced new audiences to its harmonious blend of Chinese folk melodies with Western symphonies as background music.
One of China's long-standing regional arts, Chuanju Opera enjoys great popularity in Sichuan Province and Chongqing Municipality, and as well as some parts of Yunnan, Guizhou and Hubei provinces.
It has five major tunes including gaoqiang, huqin, tanxi, kunqu and dengxi, which were five distinct operas that have gradually merged into one. Among them, gaoqiang, or high tune, appears to have the richest and most distinctive Sichuan colors.
Chuanju Opera has a wide repertoire with an outstanding literary quality reflected in witty, humorous and lively dialogue. It features amazing stunts, with immortals who open a third eye on their foreheads to showcase magic powers; jumping through burning hoops, hiding swords and spitting fire. But it is the skill of changing facial masks in a flash that many people find most mysterious.
This stunt first appeared during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Today, actors can change about 18 masks in one show. The centuries-old tradition was passed down among male actors, though a few actresses have also learned the skill.
In 2003, Hong Kong superstar Andy Lau brought the art of face changing into the limelight. He said he had persuaded a Sichuan opera master to accept him as an apprentice. The news stirred up such heated debate that the local government stepped in and postponed the lessons.
(China Daily 06/12/2007 page19)
