Having just returned from Singapore, Taiwan's National Guoguang Opera Company (
For those who like action in their opera, this evening's production (
The second part of this evening's performance is a wen hsi performance titled Three Outstanding Sisters (
Combined, the two pieces will be a warm up for tomorrow night's production of Red River (
Some Taiwanese will recall reading Yue's story in their textbooks. The illustrations showed a young Yue on his knees as his mother famously tattooed his back with characters reminding him to always honor his country with integrity and loyalty (
The production is something of a premiere for Taiwan. While it was brought to this country a decade ago by the Beijing Opera Company, this is the first production mounted by Taiwan's own national opera troupe.
Finally, Sunday is a tribute to Mei Lanfang, the Peking opera legend who had such an influence on modern opera that a whole of style of acting, the "Mei school" was named after him. Mei's legacy is of more than a hundred female roles he played during his half-century career. This weekend's tribute is in honor of the 110th anniversary of his birth.
To celebrate the occasion, Guoguang is mounting four "mini productions" the same night, scenes from four of Mei's most famous roles. They will include Scattering Flowers (
"For the four productions, we've chosen the theme of the four seasons," said designer Wang An-chi (
While Sunday may be a special tribute to the "Mei school" of Peking opera (
production.
Mei himself never played in Taiwan. Instead, his contemporary Gu Zhengciu from Shanghai was invited in 1948 to entertain Chinese Nationalist (KMT) troops. In the end, he laid the foundation for "Taiwan Peking opera" and helped establish performance troops in the army, air force and navy. In 1995, these troupes were transferred from the Ministry of National Defense to the Ministry of Education and combined to form today's National Guoguang Opera Company.
Performance notes
What: National Guoguang Opera Company's (
When: Tonight and tomorrow at 7:30pm and Sunday at 2:30pm
Where: Novel Hall (
(
Tickets: Cost between NT$300 and NT$1,200 and are available at the door or by calling (02) 2341 9898, or ordering online at www.ticket.com.tw.
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