Taiwan’s only public-sector Peking Opera troupe, and the only national-level troupe, GuoGuang was formed in 1995 when several separate military troupes merged. The idea was to establish a single, high-powered troupe that would shoulder the task of ensuring the ongoing viability of Peking Opera in Taiwan.
In a salute to tradition, GuoGuang will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a series of 16 performances scheduled to take place on Saturdays and Sundays from July 4 to August 23 at the CKS Memorial Hall’s Zhong Zheng Auditorium. Each of the performances will feature romantic love in the story line.
Peking vs. Kunqu Opera
Wang An-chi (GuoGuang art director and a distinguished professor at the National Taiwan University Department of Drama and Theatre) opines: “Perhaps because the Kunqu work Peony Pavilion has been hugely popular in recent years, lots of people have gotten the mistaken idea that only Kunqu Opera deals with romance.” But, she says, that is simply not the case. And that is precisely the thought that inspired the series.
It is true, says Wang, that a lot of Kunqu Opera works deal with romantic love, but the storylines tend toward the idealized. In the love stories of Peking Opera, by contrast, the roles may be martial or non-martial, or a combination of the two, and the storylines are more varied, involving serious conflict in many cases.
So, what sort of characters are we going to be seeing on stage during this series?
All’s fair...
In Qipan Mountain, Xue Dingshan (the fictional son of the famed Tang-Dynasty general Xue Rengui) is paired off with his first wife, Dou Xiantong. Then Luhua River tells a tale involving the same man and his third wife, Fan Lihua. Says Wang: “In these two operas, we see men who are defeated in combat by women, and then save themselves through marriage.”
The flames of love and war also get tangled together in Yang Silang Visits His Mother. Most opera goers who see this piece focus mainly on the story’s themes of war and patriotism, while overlooking the romantic subplot, but Wang stresses: “Let’s not forget that Yang Silang didn’t just lose a big battle and get taken prisoner. He also fell in love with the enemy nation’s princess, who out of love spirited him across the border to be reunited with his family.”
And traditional opera has spun romantic tales that open up entire new realms for the imagination to run wild. Lotus Lantern, for example, is about the marriage between a mortal named Liu Yanchang and San Sheng Mu, a celestial spirit. And then there is a tale of love between a man and a serpent spirit in Legend of the White Snake, a narrative known to one and all in Chinese culture for many centuries now. As the story goes, a scholarly mortal strolls beside Hangzhou’s West Lake and lends his umbrella to a snake spirit who has taken human form. The two fall in love and eventually marry. But, in a struggle with a jealous malefactor that plays out over the course of years, the snake spirit rescues her husband at Jinshan Temple, where he has been imprisoned by her adversary. After a time, the snake spirit herself is captured and imprisoned in Leifeng Pagoda. She is eventually rescued many years later, and the epic love between serpent spirit and mortal survives the test of a long separation. GuoGuang has arranged for different performers to share roles, each performing during a different segment of the show. The competitive juices thus stirred up between the different cast members promise to deliver audiences a real treat!
Mirror on women’s ways
No matter the time or culture, love stories have always centered around the feelings of the woman. In Wu-lung Mansion, notes Wang, Song Jiang’s wife Yan Xijiao is from a lowly background. Though Song has been good to her, she nevertheless is in love with another. A woman’s capacity for taking charge of her emotional affairs thus shows clearly through in this work.
In The Match of Hezhu and Making a Match at Cailou, the female characters all boldly reach out for happiness. In The Dowry, to be performed on July 4 opening night, although romance is not the main focus, Xue Xiangling, the daughter of a rich family, finds time to do a good deed on her wedding day by helping out some impoverished people, thus showing how women can be both warm and principled.
For the sake of contrast, GuoGuang will also be performing The Jade Hairpin, a Kunqu Opera piece which shows how differently romance is handled in Kunqu and Peking Opera. In Kunqu Opera, the subject is much more idealized.
Young actors take big roles
In this series of romance-themed operas, young performers have been chosen to play most of the key roles, which certainly presents no problem, for they have already spent years honing their stage skills.
Liu Jiahou, who will be playing the part of Dou Xiantong in Qipan Mountain, and is also one of several performers splitting up the role of the white serpent in Legend of the White Snake, was originally a practitioner of the Zhang School vocal style, but later switched to the Mei School. In April of last year, she formally joined the Mei School when she gained acceptance as a follower of Mei Baojiu, a second-generation master of the Mei School, which was founded by his father, Mei Lanfang.
Also, Huang Shiya (set to share the role of the white serpent) and Ling Jialin (sharing the role of the green serpent) show tremendous potential in terms of appearance, vocals, and stage movements.
In all aspects of the Peking Opera performer’s art, says Wang, young performers have something unique to contribute. For one thing, young performers have an advantage over veterans in terms of their appearance, and are eminently qualified to play young roles. Unlike older performers, who may have already married, many young performers are currently dating someone, which certainly puts them in a good frame of mind to portray romantic love.
So, are you one of those who think of Peking Opera as an ossified relic? GuoGuang is still very much in its youth as it puts on this series of performances in celebration of its 20th birthday. Long-time opera fans, and those who are newer to the genre, are all invited to come out and see the portrayal of romance, Peking Opera style!
Young Dai Xinyi is shown here performing the role of Hu Sanniang in The Hu Family Village.
GuoGuang veteran Sun Li-hung will be marking her retirement from Peking Opera after almost 60 years on stage with a swan-song role in The Phoenix Returning to Its Nest.
Lotus Lantern spins a tale of love between man and immortal.
The opera world sometimes produces more than one version of the same story. GuoGuang performer Chen Meilan is shown here in a Kunqu Opera version of Capturing Zhang Sanlang Alive, playing the role of Yan Xijiao. Though killed by her husband, even in death she persists in finding a way to be with the paramour she loves.
Ling Jialin plays the lead role with verve in The Match of He-zhu.
