Fri, Jun 21, 2002 page17

• Popular beyond all expectations

  When the Anhui Huangmei Opera Troupe last performed in Taiwan, tickets for the shows sold out before the company stepped off the plane

  • By Gavin Phipps / STAFF REPORTER
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  Then the Anhui Huangmei Opera Troupe (安徽省黃梅戲劇團) first performed in Taiwan two years ago, the group's popularity surpassed all expectations. Tickets for all three performances of The Lady from Huichou (徽州女人) sold out long before the troupe stepped off the airplane.

  This may explain why this weekend's performances of the group's latest production, The Female Son-in-Law (女駙馬) at the National Concert Hall in Taipei are causing such an ado among local opera buffs, many of whom feel the troupe's return is long overdue.

  Deriving its name from a style of folk melody known as Huangmei (黃梅調), which originated in Hubei Province over 200 years ago, the group was founded in the city of Anqing, Anhui Province, in 1953. Few would have guessed then, however, just how influential the group would be on the Hong Kong movie industry -- especially its employment of the Huangmei form of traditional music.

  

  Han Zaifen is the female son-in-law, Feng Suzhen.

  PHOTO COURTESY OF ANHUI HUANGMEI

  Only a couple of years after its founding, the group became one of the first opera troupes to be picked up by the then thriving Hong Kong movie industry, when its members starred in a movie adaptation of The Beauty (天仙配).

  The movie itself may be long forgotten, but the Huangmei folk music featured in the film went onto become the music style of choice for generations of Hong Kong chopsocky flick directors including Tsui Hark (徐克) and John Woo (吳宇森).

  After its brief celluloid fame, the group returned to the stage, where, along with its numerous performances of traditional Chinese opera, it has gone on to build a reputation as one of the most contemporary of China's classical opera troupes.

  Veering away from classical opera in recent years, the group has successfully brought operatic re-workings of non-operatic classics such as The Dream of the Red Chamber (紅樓夢) and Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing to stages in Asia and Europe. The group's upcoming show, however, is based on a traditional opera.

  Adapted from the traditional opera penned by famed Anqing playwright Wang Zhaogan (王兆乾), the story revolves around the misadventures of Feng Suzhen (馮素珍) -- played by Han Zaifen (韓再芬) one of China's leading female opera celebrities -- a young woman passing herself off as a boy in order to take the civil service entrance exam.

  Having fooled almost everyone, the Emperor included, Feng encounters a lovable rogue by the name of Lee Zhaoting (李兆廷), after which her life becomes decidedly complicated, especially after the Emperor's daughter also begins to take an interest in Lee.

  The Anhui Huangmei Opera Troupe (安徽省黃梅戲劇團) will be performing The Female Son-in-Law at the National Concert Hall (台北國家戲劇院) tonight, tomorrow and again on Sunday, June 23. All performances will begin at 7pm with the exception of Saturday's matinee, which will start at 2pm. Tickets for all performances cost from NT$400 to NT$2,000 and are available from ERA ticket outlets nationwide or directly from the venue.
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