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Forbidden love, supernatural rancor in ancient China

Celebrated operatic thespian and dancer, Wu Hsing-kuo (吳興國) and his Contemporary Legend Theater (CLT, 當代傳奇劇場) make a welcome return to the stage this weekend, when, as a prelude to a mini national tour in September, the group's latest production, The Hidden Concubine (金烏藏嬌) comes to the stage of Taipei's National Theater.

One of Taiwan's leading exponents of Wusheng (武生) -- the acrobatic lead male role in Beijing opera -- Wu first came to the attention of opera enthusiasts in the early 1980s with his countless performances with the much lauded Lukuang National Opera (陸光國劇隊).

Saddened by what he described as a "declining interest in traditional opera," Wu parted company with the troupe in 1984. Teaming up with a handful of local opera performers also disenchanted by the wane in popularity of traditional forms of Chinese opera, the collective formed the CLT 1985.

Following a string of adaptations combining traditional Chinese opera with Western influences, Contemporary Legend Theater returns to its roots with The Hidden Concubine. PHOTO COURTESY OF CLT

Since then the group has become one of the most influential and most respected opera troupes in Asia due to its ability to blend standard classical Beijing opera with Western theater.

The group's many such re-workings include Euripides' Medea, Aeschylus' Oresteia and Shakespeare's Hamlet, re-titled War and Eternity; MacBeth, renamed The Kingdom of Desire and more recently an adaptation of King Lear. For The Hidden Concubine, however, Wu and the CLT have veered away from Western adaptations and returned to their Chinese operatic roots, setting the on-stage dance-fused melodrama in a teahouse in ancient China.

"However much I enjoy blending Western themes with Oriental ones it makes a nice change to return to something very Asian, especially as the show's opening weekend coincides with Chinese Valentines Day," Wu told the Taipei Times. "As it's a love story, it makes it sort of special."

While avoiding blends of Western literature and Chinese opera to create the mythical world of The Hidden Concubine, Wu has instead merged one of China's most popular legends, The Outlaws of the Marsh (水滸傳), with the classic Beijing opera, The Black Dragon Courtyard (烏龍院).

Although much of the production comes from the Black Dragon Courtyard, it would have been impossible to simply rely on that particular opera for the storyline. "It is four hours long and few people have the patience to sit through a four-hour production these days," Wu said. "So I figured that by blending the opera with the action of Outlaws it would be the perfect way to include love, suspense, action and comedy within a time frame that people would find reasonable."

Both directed by and starring Wu, The Hidden Concubine is part love story and part comedic cautionary tale set against a backdrop of Soong dynasty corruption and double-dealing.

The plot centers around the chain of events that unfold after Wu, in the guise of the corrupt government official, Soong Jiang (宋江) accepts a 16 year-old girl, played by Xia Yi (夏禕), as a concubine.

The relationship, while never blossoming into true romance, falls apart after the girl befriends Soong's young apprentice, Zhang Wen-yuan (張文遠) -- also played by Wu.

After threatening to expose Soong's corrupt dealings with the outlaws of Liang Shan (梁山), Zhang inadvertently causes the 16-year-old concubine to be put to the sword by an enraged Soong.

Returning to Earth as a ghost, the young girl is given two choices by the gods: either to take Zhang's life for romance or Soong's life for revenge.

In order to give the show a degree of realism and a kaleidoscope of color, Wu called on the talents of costume designer, Huang Wen-ying (黃文英). One of the most respected costume designers in the Asian movie scene, with credits including Hou Hsiao-hsien's (侯孝賢) award-winning 1998 Flowers of Shanghai (海上花), Huang is making her theatrical debut this weekend.

For the show's dance routine's, however, Wu has opted to keep it in the family and the choreography has been arranged by Wu's wife and founder of the Tai-Gu Tales Dance Theater (太古踏舞團), Lin Hsiu-wei (林秀偉).

Performance notes

What: Contemporary Legend Theater's "The Hidden Concubine" (當代傳奇劇場金烏藏嬌)

Where & When: Performances will take place at Taipei's National Theater (國家戲劇院) at 7:30pm tonight and Saturday and at 2:30pm on Sunday.

Tickets: Tickets cost from between NT$300 and NT$1,500 and are available from Acer ticketing outlets nationwide or, depending on availability, direct from the venue.
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