On the same day I watched Zhupu Xiangju opera troupe performing in one corner of Zhangzhou, I chanced upon another troupe staging their performance in another location of the same city. This other troupe I saw was Huang Yamei Gezi opera troupe. They're said to be not too bad too, but more Taiwanese-influenced. The main sheng of the troupe especially, though sang in typical Zhangzhou accent, has got a strong Taiwanese opera feel. The troupe's main actors are not too bad, but I can't say the same for their minor actors.
The show they performed on that day is titled "Empress of Two States". It's about the Emperor of Jin dynasty who was utterly uninterested in politics and hence suffered a humiliating defeat in war and had to marry off his Empress to the King of the invading tribe.
Huang Yamei Gezi opera troupe performing on a makeshift stage; though the stage looks dilapidated, the quality of their performance still surpasses some of the shows I've watched locally
Unlike Zhupu Xiangju opera troupe, this troupe uses projection scenery; this form of backdrop has got the advantage of being unrestrained by the size of the stage, but it takes up quite a bit of space, which could be freed up to hold props or set aside for actors to change costumes and do their makeup (the actors had to do makeup by the side of the road!)
The main sheng of the troupe; she took on 2 roles: Emperor Sima Jinlang and his son Emperor Sima Shuanglong
Almost every troupe, if not all, have got LED subtitle display machines by the side of the stage to facilitate understand of what the actors sing and say (however, sometimes whatever that is displayed may not really reflect what the actors are singing or saying!)
I don't like the actor performing the role of the eunuch because he's very restless on stage
See what I mean? I'm not sure if he'd dozed off or just closing his eyes to rest; whatever the case, this is just not acceptable for me.
Lately I've visited Zhangzhou and caught 2 Xiangju opera troupes performing in 2 different places on a single night. One of which is Zhupu Xiangju opera troupe from Longhai; it is a professional non-government sponsored troupe, and is considered one of the better troupes of its kind in terms of performing standards.
I had not finished watching the entire show, but from what I see, the storyline is as such:
The crown prince of the Emperor is a brave warrior, but is reckless and always foul things up. His brother-in-law, the Princess consort, is on the other hand good at foreign diplomacy and strategies. Fearing that the Emperor would change his mind and decides to pass the throne to the Princess consort, the ruthless crown prince poisoned his father and tried to pass the blame to the Princess consort instead.
Personally I feel this troupe is not bad as the standard of the main acting team quite uniform. Usually in non-government sponsored Xiangju opera troupes, the male xiaoshengs don't sing well, but for this troupe, I find the male actor assuming the role of the evil crown prince passable. The female xiaosheng performing the role of the Princess consort sang and acted well too.
Main drape for the troupe
Troupe in action
The evil crown prince
The Princess consort
See the hua lian at the far corner? She's the troupe leader; one of the very rare few female hua lians in an opera genre whereby male and female actors share the same stage
Fight!
Freeze!
I don't understand why palace maids in non-government sponsored and amateur troupes like to stand in such an aggressive pose!
Another thing I don't like about some Xiangju opera troupes is that the hairdo for the huadans are simply too ugly, like this one here.
This actor, performing the role of the Emperor, is a multitasker; during scenes where he's not required to appear on stage, he doubles up as the cello player
This excerpt is extracted from a now-extinct Xiangju show titled "Tales of the Vermicelli" (面线冤), which was in turn based on a very old story of lady, named Pang, who was chased away by her mother-in-law, after the latter listened to the gossips of her neighbours and firmly believed that Pang had been cursing for her to die behind her back. Pang tried to attempt suicide, but was saved by a nun and since then stayed in the nunnery. Pang's seven year-old son An'an missed his mother and ran out in search of her and were reunited at the nunnery. An'an pleaded for Pang to return home with him, but knowing that it would be impossible for her to return when her mother-in-law is still around, she firmly declined. She told An'an to sit for the imperial examination after he grew up, and upon topping the examinations would she be able to step into the family again with her head up. Years later, Pang's mother-in-law realised how virtuous Pang was, and finally accepted her back into the family. It has once been said that this show has got a slight political implication, reflecting on the Taiwan-Mainland China relations.
Synopsis
Pang stayed at the nunnery, and was afraid of hearing children cry in the night for she would miss her son terribly. On one day, her son, An'an, really turned up, and the mother and son had a tearful reunion. She asked An'an about how the family was after she left, and was upset when she knew that her mother-in-law told An'an that he would be getting a new mother soon. Pang tried to persuade An'an to go home but the latter refused. In anger she threatened her with cane, but found that she could not bear to hit him. She then explained that she could not return until there was someone to protect her from her mother-in-law, and therefore asked An'an to come back after topping the imperial examination when he grew up.
Review
This excerpt relies solely on singing and perhaps acting, and I felt it is quite hard to really shine, unless the actor assuming the role of Pang could sing very well. This is not to say Zhu Lijuan could not sing well; she could sing, but then again in opera competitions like the one the troupe's participating in, you need more punch in order to let people have better impression.
"Jingniang Sends Off Her Brother" is an excerpt from a traditional Xiangju opera show titled "Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Jingniang", which was featured in many other opera genres as well. This show was based on a folk story about how Zhao Kuangyin (before he became the first Emperor of the Song dynasty) saved a lady by the name of Jingniang from the hands of bandits and send her thousands of miles back to her hometown.
Synopsis
After safely sending Jingniang back home, Zhao Kuangyin left Jingniang's residence, and in the middle of the night, saw Jingniang coming back to send him off. Unable to resist her good intention, he agreed to let her come along. Along the way, Jingniang spoke strange words, and her behaviour was peculiar, and Zhao Kuangyin started to realise that something was not right about her. Upon questioning, he realised that the Jingniang that was in front of him is no longer a human being, but a ghost. It turned out that although Zhao Kuangyin had previously acknowledged her as his sworn sister before embarking on the journey back home, it did not stop people from gossiping about their relationship. After Zhao Kuangyin left Jingniang's residence, neighbours and relatives started spreading malicious rumours behind their back. Jingniang could not tolerate the accusations and hence committed suicide. Zhao Kuangyin regretted his actions, but all was too late; dawn broke and Jingniang disappeared into thin air.
Review
Yang Zhenzhen is not known to be a very solid actor, due to lack of onstage experience. She did improve quite a bit on singing, but her gestures were still lacking. At times her actions did not go well with the percussions, and at times she lacked the feel of a hovering ghost. Her co-acting partner, Zheng Ruosong, did not fare well as he did not sing well enough. I feel that even though the focus is not on the role of Zhao Kuangyin (since only Yang Zhenzhen is participating candidate in this excerpt), the director should at least get someone who could sing better, so as not to pull down the grading for the show.
"Summer Snow", also called "The Grievances of Dou E", was written by master scriptwriter Guan Hanqing in the Yuan dynasty, originally to show his dissatisfaction with the corrupted government of that era. This script has been adapted into many different modern opera genres, including Peking opera, Gaojia opera, Teochew opera and many others. The highlight of the show is the scene "Execution of Dou E", in which this excerpt here is based on.
Synopsis
Widow Dou E had been given the death sentence for she was accused for murdering her father-in-law, which was actually not true. The truth was that a father and son had lusted over Dou E's widowed mother-in-law and herself, and in order to make Dou E succumb to him, the son tried to poison Dou E's mother-in-law, but in accident, his father was poisoned to death instead. The son then tried to shift the blame onto Dou E's mother-in-law, but Dou E took the rap instead. Before her execution, Dou E made three wishes: first, her blood was to spill upwards onto a long white sash, and not onto the ground; second; Chuzhou will snow for 3 years to bury her body; third, a famine will take place after the snow for 3 years, to show her innocence.
Review
Xu Yuxiang is one of the all-rounded new bloods in the troupe. Not only can she sing well, she could act well in both wen and wu roles, and those in between. This excerpt is a good show to showcase her talent and there is a great deal of singing, acting and complex movements. If there was anything dissatisfactory, it would have to be the execution part, where Xu Yuxiang's landing on the ground should have coincided with the executing actions of the executioner, but unfortunately she landed too early, making that action seemed illogical.
"Sorrowful Meeting at Shen Garden" is the final scene of "Lu You and Tang Wan", an award-winning Zhejiang Yueju opera show starring Mao Weitao and Chen Huiling as the title roles. This excerpt has been adapted into Teochew opera before as well.
Synopsis
After leaving home for three years, Lu You returned to his hometown full of thoughts. While Lu You is famed for his talent in poetry and passion in politics, his marriage with his cousin Tang Wan was unfortunately a failure. Old Madam Lu was so upset that Lu You's relationship with her had distanced since his son got married, and henced tried ways to separate them. To ease the tension, Lu You decided to leave for Fuzhou, not before writing a secret letter to Tang Wan, asking her to wait for 3 years for his return. Old Madam Lu got hold of the letter, and amended the letter so that it would read "wait for a hundred years", in an attempt to make Tang Wan think that Lu You is trying to divorce her. Tang Wan saw through old Madam Lu's tactics, and deciding not to create more tension between the mother and son, she decided to get remarried to Lu You's friend, Master Shen. This day, when Lu You arrived at Shen's Garden, he chanced upon Tang Wan again, and was shocked that everything had changed. In sorrow, he penned his famed poem "Phoenix Hairpin" on the walls of the Shen's Garden.
Review
Zheng Yaling has got her own singing style, which can be considered her asset. However, in terms of shenduan, she is relatively weaker. Fortunately in this excerpt, the gestures are all modeled after Mao Weitao's movements in the original Yueju version, and I feel that Yaling performed better now, except for the final sword dance, which I felt she did not make full use of the duration of the music. Having said so, it is still debatable as to whether or not the director should set a new directing style (in terms of gestures and costumes), instead of copying everything as they are from Yueju. To be honest, if one were to cover his/ her ears, and not look at Yaling's face, one would even be misled into thinking that he/ she is watching a Yueju excerpt.
Musically, I feel that this excerpt's composition is one of the more unique among all the other excerpts that the troupe is about to bring to Fuzhou for competition. Like in the opening of the scene, the "Xin Bei Diao" melody (新北调), which was usually meant for sorrowful scenes, was transposed from F to C key. This alteration of the pitch added a sense of spiritedness to the character of Lu You as a passionate politician. Also in the closing of the excerpt when Lu You was penning the poem and doing his sword dance, the music had been specially recomposed to suit Lu You's innermost feelings and conflicts.
Performer: Lan Haibin as Wuhan, Lin Sulan as Wang Lanying
Director: Wu Ziming
Background
"Wu Han Kills His Wife" is a very popular traditional show in various genres of Chinese opera. Based on the action choreography that was designed for the actors, I believed this show is based on the Gaojia opera version, this genre being famous for action scenes.
Synopsis
Wu Han was given an order by his mother to kill his wife, Princess Lanying before dawn breaks or else she would commit suicide. In oder to fulfill his duty as a filial son, he had to oblige and stormed back to his residence. However, when he heard Princess Lanying chanting Buddhist sutra by the side hall, he suddenly felt that he could not bear to kill his virtuous wife. Princess Lanying could tell that something was not right with her consort, and after much questioning, Wu Han finally revealed the truth. It turned out that when Wu Han was still young, Princess Lanying's father, Emperor Wang Mang, had killed a number of loyal subjects of the former dynasty in order to usurp the throne for himself. As Wu Han was still young, his mother never told him the truth until then. Therefore, in order for the secret rebellion force to have full trust in Wu's family to plan a comeback, Wu Han had to slay the daughter of the current Emperor. Upon hearing Wu Han's words, Princess Lanying knew that she had to die in order not to let her husband be in a dilenma. Wu Han could not bear to kill Lanying, and planned to protect her with his life. Princess Lanying knew well that would not work, and hence seized Wu Han's sword from its shield while Wu Han wasn't alert and commited suicide, leaving Wu Han full of remorse.
Review
Lan Haibin's trained in wusheng roles, and he's good at all the actions choreographed for him. However, his main weakness lies in singing, and there're quite a lot of singing for his role. Lin Sulan, on the other hand, is good at singing, but is less effective in executing all the delicate and complex movements set by director Wu. There are two very obvious flaws in their performance. The first is the part where Princess Lanying hugged Wu Han, saw his sword hanging by his waist and a sudden thought of committing suicide came to mind. Due to the fact that Haibin had not don the da kao (Chinese opera's version of full battle order) during average rehearsals, the hugging acting had caused the flags behind his da kao and thus blocking Yanling's face from the audience. Sulan then had to sweep the flags aside with her hands, and that looked rather unsightly. The second flaw was that the final falling to the ground action of both Haibin and Sulan (Haibin's to jump up and land on his knees while Lanying is to arch her body backwards and land flat on her back) did not coincide at the same time, and that made that scene less of an impact.
In terms of directing, I like the ending bits of the scene where the role of Wu Han was stomping the ground with his fist when he saw Princess Lanying lying dead on the ground; I find this action portray Wu Han's regret and agony very effectively. There was an earlier action whereby Princess Lanying was reminding Wu Han of what loving they were in the past, and there was a particular action whereby Yanling was to grab hold of the edge of her right watersleeve with her left hand, pulled it straight, and then wrap around her shoulder with it. It was unfortunate that Sulan did not manage to do it correctly on stage, for if she had executed it accurately, it would have given the audience the feeling of the lovey dovey atmosphere of a newly wed couple.
The music is nice, but nothing really very special.
"A Village Girl's Sorrow" is originally a very old one-man performance of the Mulian opera genre that was later adapted into Shaoju opera and finally further popularised by Chen Fei from Shaoxing Yueju Opera Troupe.
Synopsis
A lonely and vengeful female ghost hovers around, giving people the eerie feeling. Time is rewind back to the time when the female ghost was still a young, innocent village girl by the name of Yu Furong. Despite coming from a poor family, Yu Furong was nevertheless happy. However, everything changed one day, when Yu Furong's parents passed away suddenly. Having no one to depend on, she was forced into prostitution at the age of 14. She knew she could not escape, so she tried to get to terms with her new identity. Unfortunately, things just do not turn out well for her; years down the road, after having her youth wasted and caught some diseases along the way, she was thrown out of the brothel by the same people who dragged her in. Yu Furong was all alone again, and having no one to take pity or help her, she finally hanged herself to death and returned as a vengeful ghost.
Review
Yang Xiaoyi, one of the more promising young dans in the troupe, has shown great improvement since her last appearance in Singapore early last year. Back then her body language and voice were still rather unpolished, but now her shen duan is more solid, and her newly grasped singing technique sounded more soothing to the ears.
In terms of directing, I am pleased that director Wu did not choreograph this show exactly like the yueju version, as like what he did for most of the excerpts he had choreographed before. At the very least, I could see some originality in the performing style (in the Yueju version, Chen Fei used Chinese dance movement to portray the young and naive Yu Furong and 7-feet watersleeves for the vengeful ghost, but in this version, Yang Xiaoyi used opera hankerchiefs for the front part and long sash for the ending). The director also arranged another actor on stage (totally masked and without any dialogue) who represent the bad people (brothel operators, their workers and brothel patrons), which I think is brilliant as it gives this show a more dramatic feel. This character did not appear in either the Mulian Opera or Yueju version. However, what I find not good enough is the opening to the excerpt. Being a very "contemporary" show, I'd expect to see a relatively more refreshing directing approach, but unfortunately it was still rather traditional, in the sense that the ghost floats around the stage wearing what seems like conventional ghost costumes.
Music-wise, I'm very pleased, especially the part where Yu Furong was singing about her tragic fate of being thrown out of the brothel. The composer (unfortunately I do not know who did the music) arranged for the actor to sing "Xiao Kudiao" (小哭调), which is very suitable for sad weepy songs. What surprises me, though, was the usage of backup vocals to harmonise with the lead vocal to create a more moody, sympathetic feel to the scene.
Showcasing here, are two clips from Hokkien Xiangju opera “The Bridge of Mother and Son”. Now some of you viewers, especially those from my opera troupe as well as those who had watched Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe’s show, might think how come these clips don’t seem familiar. The version featured here is performed by Zhangpu County Xiangju Opera Troupe, and is actually the original version before Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe revised the show and made it part of their repertoire.
Allow me to say a bit about the show. The script was written by the late Xiangju opera scriptwriter Tang Yinchang, who is renowned for his works like “The Tale of the Medicinal Stone” and “Protecting the Baby”. His masterpieces usually centred on family-orientated themes which touch the hearts of the common-folks. In this show, the plot is about an unfilial son Liu San, who forgot about his mother’s existence after he got married to Qi’niang. His mother, Madam Xu, got so upset that she was forced to attempt suicide but was saved by the magistrate. The magistrate was furious when he found out what happened and wanted to imprison the young couple, but was stopped by his wife. He then invited Liu San and Qi’niang over to hint them if they had lost anything valuable at home. The young couple counted everything they had at home, but missing out on Madam Xu. The magistrate finally lost his temper and wanted to throw them into jail. It was only at this juncture did Liu San finally recalled he had a mother whom he had not seen for a long time. After crying out to his mother, Madam Xu ran out to see her son, and both hugged together in tears. The magistrate allowed the young couple to bring Madam Xu home, but Liu San and Qi’niang were remorseful for their past actions, and suggested that they be locked up as a punishment. The magistrate agreed and arranged for them to stay for the night in the jail while Madam Xu became their invited guest for dinner.
In my opinion, Zhangpu County Xiang Opera Troupe’s performance standard is rather average, especially in terms of singing. Some of the actors actually sang rather badly. However, I think the troupe do score point in terms of their script, as I believe the late Master Tang was their anchor scriptwriter. Their music is also one of their strength too, and I particularly like their “Zasui” melody a lot.
With the demise of Master Tang, I’m not sure what the direction is for the troupe, and it has been quite a while since there was news from them. Hopefully the troupe will not fall apart just like that, for after all, they had produced quite a few well-received shows in the past.
