Beijing opera: ancient and modern

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The upcoming weekend promises to be a treat for lovers of Beijing opera with major productions showcasing the many different guises to which this endlessly versatile operatic form can lend itself as it strives to find its place in the modern world. Contemporary Legend Theater’s (當代傳奇劇場) The Legendary Pear Garden (梨園傳奇) will open Thursday with a program that revisits the core of operatic tradition at the National Theater (國家戲劇院). Across town at Novel Hall (新舞台), the Taipei Li-Yuan Peking Opera Theater (台北新劇團) will see director and lead actor Li Baochun (李寶春) reviving two of the group’s recent original works, one based on a modern Chinese play, the other on a well-known Western opera.

Much is said about the need to find a happy medium between tradition and modernity in the traditional performing arts and both Contemporary Legend Theater and Yuan Peking Opera Theater have proved remarkably successful in developing a loyal following across the age spectrum. It’s a difficult balancing act to pull off, and the former is best known for its sometimes frantic embrace of contemporary theatrical devices, while the latter has a reputation as a stalwart guardian of tradition with a penchant for occasional forays onto the wild side.

Originally scheduled to open last month, The Legendary Pear Garden was delayed after Contemporary Legend Theater’s founder and lead performer Wu Hsing-kuo (吳興國) injured himself during a show while on tour in South Korea. The production comprises highlights from classic operas featuring Wu, his long-time collaborator Wei Hai-ming (魏海敏), and a number of emerging talents. The opening performance on Thursday, Lonely in the Cold Dessert (寂寞沙洲冷), will feature Wu in the role Fan Chung-yu (范仲禹), supported by comic specialist Lin Choa-hsu (林朝緒) in a performance designed as homage to Wu’s mentor Chou Cheng-rong (周正榮). Wu said he aimed to perform this role in the style of his mentor.

“As we get older, we must find ways of teaching a younger generation, and encourage them to follow on in our footsteps ... While I can still perform, I want to show them what it is really about. Even if audiences are hard to come by [these days], they [aspiring performers] must persevere and take this tradition to the world stage,” Wu said in a press conference in June to announce the project.

This will be followed on Friday by a selection of highlights featuring the heroic roles of Beijing opera, titled Young Heroes (英雄美少年), and will end with two performances of Loves That Topple Empires (傾國之戀), which includes the scene Farewell My Concubine (霸王別姬), made famous in Chen Kaige’s (陳凱歌) 1993 film of the same name and one of the great tragic set pieces of Beijing opera. This will be combined with Wei performing The Drunken Concubine (貴妃醉酒), a highly technical piece that was made famous by her own mentor Mei Lanfang (梅欄芳).

Wei, one of the boldest innovators in Beijing opera, said she was always happy to return to the classics, because she could feel the power of a centuries-long tradition expressing itself through her.

“I feel that although the forms that our mentors and predecessors on the stage developed may now be centuries old, what they created crosses time and still has great dramatic power ... If you perform this material with your heart, there is still so much you can discover in it.”