With the latest installment of Taipei Li-Yuan Peking Opera Theatre’s (台北新劇團) New Old Operas (新老戲) series, the company continues its efforts not just to reinvent Beijing opera for a new generation, but also to get dyed-in-the-wool traditionalists to reassess the art form.
In this year’s program of four operas, titled Li Baochun Plays Beijing Opera Classics (李寶春精演新老戲), director Vivien Ku (辜懷群) says one of the works will be unfamiliar to even the most avid theatergoer.
That’s not because the story is a contemporary reinvention of Beijing opera, but because it is a rediscovered work that had languished in dusty libraries for decades.
Photo Courtesy of Koo’s Foundation
“It still has a great story to tell,” Ku says.
Based on an incident from the The Three Kingdoms (三國) period, an era of Chinese history well-known to movie buffs, computer gamers and literary connoisseurs, The Battle of Weinan (渭南之戰), which will round off the four opera series on April 17, was planned by Li Shaochun (李少春), father of Li Baochun (李寶春), the leading performer and artistic director of the Taipei Li-Yuan Peking Opera Theatre.
According to Ku, The Battle of Weinan fell out of the Beijing opera repertoire because it is technically difficult, requiring two male leads, both proficient in martial and civil roles, who are equally commanding on stage.
Photo Courtesy of Koo’s Foundatio
“Male leads who are proficient in both martial and civil roles are few enough, but to get two of them onto the same stage is a real feat,” Ku says.
The story of The Battle of Weinan focuses on a delicate strategic situation in which the great general Cao Cao (曹操) seeks to cause dissension between general Ma Chao (馬超), who holds the upper hand in a conflict in the autumn of 211 AD, and his subordinate Han Sui (韓遂). This is a martial epic, but intrigue plays a major role, and the characters’ abilities to express inner turmoil as well as outward martial valor are integral to the show’s success.
With the multitalented Li taking on the role of Han and guest performer Tian Lei (田磊), winner of the coveted Plum Blossom Award (梅花獎) for Beijing Opera and stalwart of the Fujian Province Beijing Opera Company (福建京劇院), in the role of Ma, dramatic tension is created as two generals make decisions that will change the direction of Chinese history. The Battle of Weinan will be performed on April 17 at 2:30pm.
The three other operas in this program are also well worth watching. The series opens on April 14 with Scholar of Bashan (巴山秀才), which has won numerous awards in China since it was first released in Taiwan in 2003. Adapted by the company from a Sichuan opera, it has since become a classic of the Taipei Li-Yuan Peking Opera Theatre. Accompanying Li in the production is the highly regarded young talent Wang Yan (王豔).
The two other shows include The Phoenix Returns to Her Nest (鳳還巢), in which troupe regular Huang Yu-lin (黃宇琳) drops her usual youthful zest for a more demure role, “in order to push her,” Ku says.
The final part of the program is Turbulence Over Duanmi Stream (斷密澗風雲), a fusion of two well-known Beijing opera segments.
Taipei Li-Yuan Peking Opera Theatre is famous for its faith in the conventions of Beijing opera, but while it stands firmly with the forces of tradition, it has never feared to play with new ideas.
Li Baochun Plays Beijing Opera Classics is a superficially conventional program, but it combines a revival of a lost classic with fusions and reworkings of established repertory pieces, and programming that pushes local performers beyond their comfort zones as well as introduces outstanding performers from China.
Li’s move to the big auditorium of the National Theater for this program (from the excellent but much smaller Novel Hall venue) means many more seats are available for the often sold-out performances of this series.
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