Review: The Royal Inspectorate (Quanzhou String Puppetry)

Title: The Royal Inspectorate (钦差大臣)
Genre: Quanzhou String Puppetry (泉州提线木偶)
Format: Stage puppetry (live)
Production year: 19 December 2005
Director: Lv Zhong Wen, Wei Hong
Script: Wang Jingxian
Music: Lin Jiacai
Scenography: Huang Lianjin
Puppeteers: Chen Yinghong, Xia Rongfeng for Jia Si, Xu Runming, You Youya for Zhu Wu, Zhang Gong, Wu Weigong for Qian San, Huang Wenjun, Fu Ruifeng, Wu Weihong for Mrs. Qian, Meng Suping, Lin Xiaojun for Miss Qian, etc.

---

At first glance...

Quanzhou (string) Puppetry is a world renowned form of marionette art. In China, though there are other variations of marionette puppetry, this Quanzhou style of string puppetry is the most famous, and having only 1 professional troupe left in the whole of China makes this form of art even more rare and precious.

Synopsis

Jia Si, a down-and-out son of a rich man from the Imperial capital, had to resort to stealing food from the Zhao Xian Hall with his servant and was caught by the lady owner of the hall. She had them locked up in her room and called in the constables. At this same time, the Magistrate’s men were actually busy searching for the Royal Inspectorate, who was reported to have come to the town secretly under disguise. According to news, the Inspectorate was a tall skinny man and with him was his servant, a short and plump man. Jia Si and his servant happened to fit the description, was hence Jia Si was mistaken as the Inspectorate and was welcomed back to the Magistrate’s residence.

Magistrate Qian San and his gang of local authority officials were actually corrupted officials who have sucked money out of their own people. In order to protect themselves, they decided to get close to the “Inspectorate” and tried to bride him with treasures. Qian even get her daughter to seduce Jia Si so as to secure his official post. Miss Qian managed to charm Jia Si, and Qian forced them into wedding.

On the wedding day, however, Jia Si disappeared all of a sudden, leaving behind a poem disclosing his real identity, as well as giving these corrupted officials a bad lashing. At this same time, the real Royal Inspectorate had arrived, sending them into panic once again!

Review

Puppetry is a form of art which one has to appreciate “live” and not through video or television. Somehow, the magical charm of this art form is lost through these technologies. I would say I’m lucky to be able to catch the Quanzhou Puppet Troupe on stage again after a lapse of over a decade. Although personally I still prefer their performances back then compared to now, I still feel that these puppeteers are really remarkable in their artistry. Marionettes are not easy to manipulate, especially with 30-odd 2-meter long strings!

Typical puppetry requires the puppets to imitate the human movements. However for this show, not only did the puppeteers succeed in making the puppets behave very human-like, the director has also added some stunts unachievable by human (under normal circumstances). For example in scene 2, when Magistrate Qian heard that the Royal Inspectorate was going to arrive soon, he sprang up into the air and landed on top of the decorated windscreen on his tummy. This is of course not achievable by human standard, but in puppetry, it adds a sense of comic to the show.

The movement choreography was well done too. In scene 3, where Qian’s gang of local authority officials and their men were out hunting for the Royal Inspectorate, the puppeteers arranged the marionettes into different formations, changing from one to another in midst of their dialogues. Together with the exaggerated running movements of the marionettes, the scene was rather cute yet beautiful.

For scenography, it’s a pity that some parts of the stage settings had to be “sacrificed” when they troupe came over. However, the set still looked quite elegant with its simplified props. What I like about the set was that they had incorporated some props with a modern feel into the scenes. Like in scene 2, there is this big windscreen in the shape of a copper coin (perhaps to hint that Magistrate Qian is a “money-faced” man) which can be rotated like a rotating door. In that scene, Magistrate Qian was hiding behind the windscreen from his fierce wife, and she pushed the windscreen around and caused Magistrate Qian to fall flat on the ground. Something innovative and funny!

This is by far one of the most enjoyable puppet shows so far. The script was quite well-written (adapted from a Russian play) and easy to understand, and the plot is funny and entertaining. The puppeteers are very skillful and they could sing quite well too. This is a highly recommended show, and if there were VCDs or DVDs for this show, I’ll be the first to buy it.

Ratings

Script

Music

Scenography

Puppetery Skills

Final rating

Review: The Jade Pagoda (Shaoxing Yue Opera)

Title: The Jade Pagoda (珍珠塔)
Genre: Shaoxing Yue opera (越剧)
Format: Stage opera
Production year: Around 2004 - 2005
Director: Sun Hongjiang
Script: Li Li, Huang Yan
Music: Liu Jiankuan
Scenography: Xie Tongmiao, Ding Baodi
Casts: Xu Biaoxin as Fang Qing, Deng Huawei as Chen Cui’E, Zhou Yan’er as Fang Duohua, Gu Aijun as Chen Peide, Qi Chunlei as Old woodcutter, Xu Lai as Cai Ping, Ye Yuanpei as Hong Yun

---

At first glance...

”The Jade Pagoda” is one of the traditional shows for Shaoxing Yue opera. But unlike most other shows whereby the main focus is on the female leads, this show focuses more on the male lead. This version, a revised version of the old script, was a very recent production, features Xu Biaoxin, an up and rising male Shaoxing Yue opera actor Xu Biaoxin as the male lead, Fang Qing.

Synopsis

Fang Qing was the grandson of a prime minister, but due to political reasons, his family dwindled, with only him and his mother struggling to survive in a graveyard in Henan. He had an uncle, Chen Peide, who was doing well as an imperial official in Xiang Yang and old Mrs. Fang got him to approach them to borrow some money.

It happened that Fang Qing turned up at Chen’s residence on his birthday celebration, much to the discontentment of Fang Duohua, Fang Qing’s paternal aunt. She despised Fang Qing for being poor, and was angry that he made her lose face in front of her guests. Her harsh and unforgiving words left Fang Qing fuming mad and he vowed never to return to Xiang Yang if he failed to become a top scholar. In return, Fang Duohua said that she was willing to kneel down in front of him with a tray of incense urn as a form of welcome (a taboo for an elder to perform to a junior) if he could really make it.

Fang Qing’s cousin Cui’E found out about their quarrel and hence decided to apologise to Fang Qing on her mother’s behalf. She was willing to help Fang Qing, but the latter was however unwilling to accept her financial assistance. Cui’E, who already had a liking for Fang Qing, decided to help in an implicit way; she hid her family heirloom, the jade pagoda, in a box of snacks and asked Fang Qing to take it back for his mother. At this juncture, Chen Peide turned up to stop Fang Qing from leaving. Chen admired Fang Qing for his character, hence decided to betroth Cui’E to him. Fang Qing could not refuse, and hence agreed to the marriage.

While on his way back home, Fang Qing was caught in a snowstorm. Unable to continue his journey due to hunger, he decided to help himself to some snacks first. He was astonished when he found the jade pagoda in the snack box, and finally realised the good intention of his cousin. However, a robber appeared unexpectedly and robbed him of the jade pagoda. Fang Qing was demoralised and wanted to commit suicide, but was saved by an old woodcutter. He decided to give Fang Qing some money so that he could realise his dream.

Fang Qing finally became the top scholar and was appointed as the Chief Inspectorate. He decided to pay a visit to Chen’s residence again, but this time, he shall disguise himself as a Dao Qing (a form of folk singing based on moral and social themes, usually performed by beggars and Taoist priests) singer, hoping to “educate” his aunt.

Fang Duohua, however, remained unmoved by his actions, and was in fact very angry that his songs were all pinpointing at her. Chen Peide and Cui’E however, welcomed Fang Qing warmly. When Fang Qing’s subordinates turned up to look for Fang Qing, everyone finally realised that Fang Qing had really became a top scholar. Fang Duohua was ashamed of her past actions, and decided to accept Fang Qing as her son-in-law wholeheartedly.

Review

This remake of “The Jade Pagoda” features a big change of the original script. In the original script, there was no woodcutter, and instead of Fang Qing educating his aunt, the original version featured Fang Qing trying to shame his aunt, and was reprimanded by his mother for being unforgiving. According to the director, such a change was done to bring out the essence of hope after a mishap, and to soften the original “hatred versus hatred” feel. This was a good attempt, though I’d prefer to see Fang Qing shaming his aunt!

Although I have not seen the original version by Lu Jinhua, somehow I have this feeling that this show was tailor-made for Xu Biaoxin. For a start, he used to be a top actor in Changzhou Xi Opera Troupe, but was said under strong recommendation to be transferred to Shanghai Yue Opera Company, and then subsequently heavily promoted by the troupe. “The Jade Pagoda” happened to be the best show to showcase his talent, since the male lead has quite significant role. Also, I felt that he has got a lot of singing parts, at times to the point of almost becoming too excessive. But nevertheless, his singing was really quite good, and he managed to perform all the stunts designed for his role in the third scene, the scene where he was trapped in a snowstorm and met a robber.

As for the rest of the cast, Zhou Yan’er and Deng Huawei, who acted as Fang Duohua and Chen Cui’E, were not bad as well, but others were average. Zhou Yan’er’s portrayal of Fang Duohua was not as clownish as compared to others, but more mean and unfeeling. This might have been the director’s idea, but somehow I felt that it dimmed down the role of fang Duohua quite a bit. For example, when Fang Duohua was singing how big and nice the Fang Residence she used to live (before she was married to Chen Peide), her straight face and prim and proper actions just do not match with her exaggerating lyrics. Deng Huawei’s rendition of Chen Cui’E was not too good in my opinion too. Although her singing and shen duan were not bad, I think the role of Chen Cui’E should be more elegant and matured, so as to bring a contrast between her and Fang Qing, for she’s supposed to be older than Fang Qing. Gu Aijun, who took on the role of Chen Peide, could sing well too, but his shen duan was rather average. One actor I wanted to point out was Xu Lai, who acted as Cui’E’s maid Cai Ping in the show. I felt she has potential to become a good actress, but her singing could pose a problem as her voice sounded deep.

Script and cast apart, one other highlight of the show was the scenography. One can’t help but to think of the remake of “Dream of the Red Chamber”, as the style of the set resembled that of “Dreams”, but on a slightly smaller scale. One aspect of the scenography I like is the secondary curtain. Instead of the conventional draw curtain, they used a big traditional Chinese scroll painting as a secondary curtain which I think went well with the overall set. The painting, which features a scenery painted the Jiangnan style, added a touch to beauty to the set, giving a hint of how beautiful Xiangyang city was.

To sum things up, I think this show is indeed not bad, but could improve further. In terms of acting, the actors’ shen duan were not bad, but just lack the extra touch to make their character more outstanding. Perhaps with time they’d improve, and I hope they do!

Ratings

Script

Music

Scenography

Casts

Video quality

Final rating

Review: Li Miaohui (Fujian Xiang opera)

Title: Li Miaohui (李妙惠)
Genre: Fujian Xiang opera (芗剧)
Format: Stage opera
Production year: 1993
Director: Wu Ziming
Script: Shao Jianghai, Guo Zhixian (rearranged)
Music: Yang Senlin, Su Dengfa
Casts: Zheng Xiuqin as Li Miaohui, Hong Zhenping as Xie Qi, Hong Cailian as Lu Mengxian, Yang Yuexia as Bai Jinhua, Han Tiansong as Lu Nanchuan, Jiang Tiedan as Bai Laofu, Xiao Shuqin as Hua Mifeng

---

At first glance...

This is one of the first original Fujian Xiang opera scripts ever written by the late Fujian Xiang opera master Shao Jianghai. So far no other Chinese opera genres have this same show telling the tale of a man who “married a woman to become her brother”!

Synopsis

Li Miaohui was a ill-fated widow. Her husband Lu Mengxian was reported dead while on his way to pursue the imperial examinations. Subsequently her family was reduced from riches to rags in a fire breakout followed by flood. One day, Guangdong salt merchant Xie Qi was cruising down the river when he saw Li Miaohui washing clothes by the riverbank. He was captivated by her beauty and hence got a matchmaker to try ask for her hand from her father-in-law. Old Mr. Lu did not want his daughter-in-law to suffer with him, therefore he forced Li to get remarried to Xie. However on the wedding night, Li tried to commit suicide, but was subsequently saved by Xie. Xie was touched by Li’s love for her late husband and decided to become her sworn-brother instead.

Not long after, Lu Mengxian was “revived” and returned home as a top scholar! It turned out that Lu had not died on his way to the imperial city, but was robbed of his possessions and subsequently being saved a passerby. However, a confusion arose later on, when another man of similar-sounding name died in the same region, leading his family servant to mistook this dead man as Lu himself.

Lu was devastated to find that his wife had remarried to Xie Qi. Jinhua, a childhood playmate and neighbour of Lu, was deeply moved by Lu’s love for Li. On seeing Jinhua’s admiration for his son, Old Mr. Lu got his son to marry Jinhua. Lu was reluctant, and only accepted Jinhua as his sworn-sister. On the night of his wedding, he sneaked away to Guangdong to look for his wife. The entire family gave chase, and after much explanation and persuasion, this complicated affair finally had a happy ending: Li and Lu were reunited again, while Jinhua became Xie’s wife.

Review

This is a VCD show which I’ve bought from China. The recording quality was bad, probably recorded off from video tape, which was in turn recorded off from TV. There were no subtitles to the entire show, so it was a bit hard to understand at some point. Fortunately I had the original cassette recording of the show (a even earlier production) complete with the lyrics to the songs, hence I was able to grasp the meaning to most of the songs.

For the storyline, many scenes had been sliced off from the original script in order to make the plot more compact. This however did not compromise the integrity of the script. In fact it made the show easier to digest, as the original complete show would require 2 days to act.

Acting the role of Li Miaohui is first grade actress Zheng Xiuqin. She is the only first grade Xiang opera actress in China now, and in the history of Xiang opera culture, only 2 actresses have been awarded this honour. Her shen duan was good, and her singing can really move the audience to tears. However, her looks were at a disadvantage as her age was catching up. Hong Zhenping's clownish rendition of Xie Qi was hilarious, funny yet not compromising with his shen duan. A pity that his singing was just average. Hong Cailian, who acted as Lu Mengxian, has got good shen duan, but wasn't as good as before due to age. Yang Yuexia's performance as Bai Jinhua was average, and Xiao Shuqin's portrayal as Hua Mifeng (matchmaker) was funny, but her shen duan was average too.

This opera is a very traditional opera, in the sense that it concentrates alot on singing. Scene 2 and scene 5 are 2 major scenes with lots of singing. In scene 2, Zheng Xiuqin sang solo for almost 3/4 of the scene, a total of about 52 lines, about Li Miaohui's yearning for her husband's return as well as her unwillingness to remarry. In scene 5, Hong Cailian and Yang Yuexie took turns to sing, Lu Mengxian expressing his unwillingness to betray his wife by marrying Jinhua, and Jinhua trying to reason that Li Miaohui's remarriage could not be annulled. I find the music for this show was quite well composed. The tunes were very melodious, and goes well with the traditional feel of the opera. Besides the focus on singing, the dialogues used in this show, especially that of the Xie Qi, was written with a rich minnan (Hokkien) flavour. One will find that Xie Qi's dialogues are usually very rhyming. This kind of rhyming dialogues is a characteristic of traditional chou roles, probably borrowed from "Da Zui Gu", a kind of minnan folk comedy.

In short, I find this opera a gem of Xiang opera. It has all the elements of traditional Xiang opera: sorrowful singing, comedy and simple storyline which audience can easily identify with. If you love traditional Chinese opera, this show would be a good one to see, though the video quality and lack of subtitles could cause a problem.

Ratings

Script

Music

Casts

Video quality

Final rating

Review: The Pot Mender (Hunan Flower Drum Opera)

Title: The Pot Mender(补锅)
Genre: Hunan Flower Drum opera (湖南花鼓戏)
Format: Chinese opera movie
Production year: About 1964
Director: Zhang Jianjun
Script: Tang Zhou, Xu Shuhui
Script: Zhang Guohui
Casts: Zhong Yichun as Madam Liu, Li Guyi as Liu Lanying, Peng Fuguang as Li Xiaocong

---

At first glance...

Hunan Flower Drum opera is the main opera genre of Hunan province with a history of over 200 years. As this opera has its roots from the local folk music and dance, the opera has got a strong local flavour, and it's music is cheerful and melodious.

Synopsis

This show was set in post-revolutionary period of China in the countryside. Pig farmer Madam Liu has a daughter Lanying whom she had always dreamt of her marrying off to someone highly educated and has a good career. She did not know that Lanying was actually in love with a pot mender, an occupation had always looked down upon. One day, Madam Liu broke her pot used for cooking pig food and had to use her rice pot as a temporary backup. She told Lanying to find a pot mender fast so that the pot could be fixed soon. Lanying then collude with her boyfriend, Li Xiaocong, to make use of this opportunity to try and change the mindset of Madam Liu.

Xiaocong turned up at Madam Liu's residence, pretending not to know Lanying. Madam Liu was initially skeptical about Xiaocong's professionalism due to his young age, but was later impressed by his skillful techniques. Xiaocong then hinted that his "mother-in-law" still looked down on him despite his skills. Madam Liu sided with his "mother-in-law", thus making Lanying and Xiaocong worried: they need to change their tactic

Xiaocong decided not to finish the job for Madam Liu and pretended to leave. In desperation, Madam Liu threatened that he would not have pork to eat if he were to leave as the piglets she rear would die of starvation because she could not cook pig food for them. Xiaocong then retorted that no pot menders would dare to come to her house if she refused to change her opinion about pot menders. Madam Liu went speechless. After some thoughts, she realised her foolishness in condemning people of their occupation. On seeing her change of mind, Xiaocong disclosed his true identity and Madam Liu finally accepted Xiaocong as her son-in-law.

Review

I have no idea what the show is all about before watching it, but after sitting through the show for the first few minutes, I was getting worried. Before this, I did have have any good impression for shows which were set in the post-revolutionary era as such shows usually have political themes revolving good-vs-evil and patroitism to the Communist Party, something which I dread to watch. However, after going through half the show, I find that this show was somehow different. Though there are political hints here and there at times, it was rather subtle, or at the very least I was able to finish the show!

For the cast, there are only three actors altogether. Of these three, I only know Li Guyi as a first class classical singer in China, but has been with Hunan Flower Drum opera company for about a decade in the 60s as an actress. Her portrayal of Lanying very cute, with eyes that almost looked as if they could talk. Zhong Yichun, who assumed the role of Madam Liu, was full of expressions and her acting was very down-to-earth, yet do not give the impression that she wasn't doing Chinese opera. Peng Fuguang's role as Li Xiaocong was a bit smaller compared to the other two, but what I like about him is that his singing was soothing to listen to. His tunes were rather high-pitched, but his singing was not sqeaky.

This show was quite well directed too in my opinion. I like the part when Madam Liu asked for Xiaocong's name, he almost blurted out his full name. In a state of panic, Lanying quickly squatted down to chop vegetables. Xiaocong got the hint and quickly changed his statement, and Lanying slowed down her chopping tempo in relief. There was also another part whereby this young couple had to collude discreetly in the presence of Madam Liu, hence they'd lift up the pot to cover Madam Liu's face and speak in front of the pot. I think these 2 scenes were very interesting, and they were effective in trying to bring across the meaning behind.

Overall, this is by far the only post-revolutionary based Chinese opera that I enjoyed. The storyline is very simple, but at the same time very easy to relate to as well. The music of the opera, which is very Hunanese, added colour and flavour to the show, making it a very pleasant show to watch.

Ratings

Script

Music

Casts

Video quality

Final rating