Introducing here, is Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe's latest masterpiece "Legend of Wang Cuiqiao"!
For those who had attended the troupe's performance at Lor Koo Chye Sheng Hong Temple during last year's Lunar New Year season would not be unfamiliar with this show, as this was the same show they performed for their finale.
"Legend of Wang Cuiqiao" tells the story of Wang Cuiqiao, an ill-fated maiden who lead an extraordinary life during the restive Jiajing period of the late Ming dynasty. Wang Cuiqiao was supposed to come from a well-to-do background, with a father serving the Emperor in the royal court. However, he was unfortunately being maligned by treacherous officials and thrown into the jail. Wang Cuiqiao, on the other hand, was being sold into the brothel. She was subsequently redeemed by a scholar Xu Wenchang, and were supposed to get married, but alas she was later abducted by some Japanese pirates, and due to unexpected twist of events, she became the wife of a bandit king named Xu Hai. Unlike other unfortunate women who landed in the hands of bandits, she did not suffer, as Xu Hai held her with high respects, and even treated her like a personal advisor. At this point of time, Marshal Hu Zongke was given the decree by the royal court to subdue the bandits terrorising the costal regions of southern China. Under the advise of Xu Wenchang, who happened to be his subordinate, he decided to send Xu Wenchang to Xu Hai's lair, hoping to persuade Xu Hai into surrendering his troops to serve the royal court. On seeing her lover again, Wang Cuiqiao was at conflict as to who should she follow, but as she was already Xu Hai's wife, she decided to let her love with Xu Wenchang become history. However, she was still trustful of Xu Wenchang, and she knew this would be a good opportunity for Xu Hai to turn over a new leaf and lead a normal peaceful life together with her. Xu Hai, of course, had no doubt in Wang Cuiqiao's foresight, and agreed instantly. However, neither of the trio knew that all these "peace talks" were just ploys of the Marshal to stem out the bandits. Not long after Xu Hai surrendered his 5000-men strong fleet to the imperial capital, Hu Zongke immediately accused Xu Hai of trying to stage a revolution by bringing his entire troop into the city, and had him and his subordinates killed. Wang Cuiqiao blamed herself for causing the death of her husband and his subordinates, and when the royal court decided to give Wang Cuiqiao an official title for doing a "righteous deed" by helping them eliminate the bandits, she made use of the opprtunity to ridicule the royal court for it's hypocrisy, and finally commited suicide as a form of apology to the deceased bandits.
Although this show had premiered in Singapore last year, it was however just a "sneak preview", and frankly speaking, this show was not meant to be performed in temple fairs due to the simplicity of the stage. This time round, having staged the show in full splendor at Fanghua Theatre (I believe this theatre is in Fuzhou) in late January this year, there was a vast improvement, in terms of scenogaphy, costume design and lighting design. Take a look at the pictures here!
For those who had attended the troupe's performance at Lor Koo Chye Sheng Hong Temple during last year's Lunar New Year season would not be unfamiliar with this show, as this was the same show they performed for their finale.
"Legend of Wang Cuiqiao" tells the story of Wang Cuiqiao, an ill-fated maiden who lead an extraordinary life during the restive Jiajing period of the late Ming dynasty. Wang Cuiqiao was supposed to come from a well-to-do background, with a father serving the Emperor in the royal court. However, he was unfortunately being maligned by treacherous officials and thrown into the jail. Wang Cuiqiao, on the other hand, was being sold into the brothel. She was subsequently redeemed by a scholar Xu Wenchang, and were supposed to get married, but alas she was later abducted by some Japanese pirates, and due to unexpected twist of events, she became the wife of a bandit king named Xu Hai. Unlike other unfortunate women who landed in the hands of bandits, she did not suffer, as Xu Hai held her with high respects, and even treated her like a personal advisor. At this point of time, Marshal Hu Zongke was given the decree by the royal court to subdue the bandits terrorising the costal regions of southern China. Under the advise of Xu Wenchang, who happened to be his subordinate, he decided to send Xu Wenchang to Xu Hai's lair, hoping to persuade Xu Hai into surrendering his troops to serve the royal court. On seeing her lover again, Wang Cuiqiao was at conflict as to who should she follow, but as she was already Xu Hai's wife, she decided to let her love with Xu Wenchang become history. However, she was still trustful of Xu Wenchang, and she knew this would be a good opportunity for Xu Hai to turn over a new leaf and lead a normal peaceful life together with her. Xu Hai, of course, had no doubt in Wang Cuiqiao's foresight, and agreed instantly. However, neither of the trio knew that all these "peace talks" were just ploys of the Marshal to stem out the bandits. Not long after Xu Hai surrendered his 5000-men strong fleet to the imperial capital, Hu Zongke immediately accused Xu Hai of trying to stage a revolution by bringing his entire troop into the city, and had him and his subordinates killed. Wang Cuiqiao blamed herself for causing the death of her husband and his subordinates, and when the royal court decided to give Wang Cuiqiao an official title for doing a "righteous deed" by helping them eliminate the bandits, she made use of the opprtunity to ridicule the royal court for it's hypocrisy, and finally commited suicide as a form of apology to the deceased bandits.
Although this show had premiered in Singapore last year, it was however just a "sneak preview", and frankly speaking, this show was not meant to be performed in temple fairs due to the simplicity of the stage. This time round, having staged the show in full splendor at Fanghua Theatre (I believe this theatre is in Fuzhou) in late January this year, there was a vast improvement, in terms of scenogaphy, costume design and lighting design. Take a look at the pictures here!
5 comments:
wow!!! nice pictures, nice setting and nice cst!xj
XJ, shall we go and "disturb" director wu........wahahahah... I want the show...^^
Tell him we want DVD! Wahahahaha!!!!! XD
ok! i shall call him to pester him for the dvd!
dont know when we would see director. i want him to teach us modern and nice poses and actions leh. Enjoy those times when he design song palace de movements for us.
Oh ya.. Are those pictures taken during the actual show? if so, the artistees are good cos they know how to station for photo taking. we lack that.xj
Judging from the composition of the photos, it's either during actual show, or during full dress rehearsal. It can't be just for posing lor. I think it all boils down to chemistry between the actors and the photographer. I dunno if I've told you before or not, last time got one stupid local photographer, wanted to took picture of xiamen or zhangzhou actors on stage, but because he was a second too slow in pressing the shutter, all he could take is the butts of the actors! (they turned their back around) Wahahaha.... XD
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