Fifteen Strings of Cash is a detective-like story about a murder and the police making false arrests. The two suspects are sentenced to death. However, the official in charge of the execution finds the evidence against the two accused unacceptable. He pleads with his superiors for an extended investigation and through his efforts the case is revoked and the real killer, Lou the Rat, is arrested.
Kunqu Opera
The traditional Kunqu Opera Fifteen Strings of Cash (十五貫) will be performed at the Novel Hall (新舞台) next week and is being staged to commemorate the late grand comic master Wang Chuan-song's (王傳淞) centenary birthday, said Zhang Shi-zheng (張世錚), art advisor to China's Zhejiang Kunqu Troupe (浙江崑劇團) and a retired Kunqu Opera singer.
The opera has been in decline since the 1920s and most troupes have disbanded. It was through Wang's ingenious performance as the comic character in Fifteen Strings of Cash in 1955 that generated renewed au-dience interest. The opera was subsequently taken to Beijing and ran for a non-stop series of 46 shows.
Following UNESCO's declaration that Kunqu Opera is one of the 19 Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, in May 2001, university campuses in Taiwan have set up Kunqu Opera clubs.
Kunqu Opera was popular in central China for over 400 years and was sung in Wu dialects (吳語), which is very different from the Mandarin of Peking Opera.
The opera form is most admired for its wide and varied repertoire and sophisticated presentation. Zhang said: "In addition to singing, Kunqu Opera singers are very parti-cular about presenting movements ... on stage to assist the progress of the story. In contrast, one may close one's own eyes just to appreciate the singing and dialogue of a Peking Opera without losing comprehension of the plot."
Another distinction between Kunqu and Peking Opera is that the former emphasizes the application of various bamboo instruments as its music accompaniment, whereas the latter tends to focus on string instruments such as the erhu (二胡).
Kunqu Opera draws its nourishment from Chinese history, literature, music, dance, painting and other artistic skills and and was enriched with the inclusion of famous poetic phrases from Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasty poems.
Many renowned performers of Kunqu Opera in China, including Wang Shi-yao (王世瑤), Lin Ji-fan (林繼凡), Zhang Ming-rong (張銘榮), Tao Bo (陶波), will be coming to Taipei to participate in the Joint Performances of Kunqu Opera's Famous Comic Characters (崑曲名丑匯演) from Jan. 3 to Jan. 7 every evening beginning at 7:30pm at the Novel Hall.
For further information, visit www.newaspect.org.tw or call (02) 27093788.
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