Zhangzhou's Chun Lan Xiangju Opera Troupe in "The Twin Justice Bao"

For Chinese opera watchers who have been following our opera troupe's performances for over a decade would probably know that we once had a show titled "The Twin Justice Bao". Actually the title was rather misleading, although one part of the show has got a turtle spirit transforming itself into the splitting image of Justice Bao to create havoc, this was not the central theme, and since then the title had been appropriately changed to "Romance of the Carp Fairy".

Recently I realised that a Xiangju troupe from Zhangzhou, Chun Lan Xiangju Opera Troupe, had a show based on the same plot of this show, and same they titled it as "The Twin Justice Bao" as well!

Here are two clips of the performance. Not to say that our troupe has got higher standard, but based on what I saw in the clips, I felt that they are a disaster. Firstly, the male lead Zhang Zhen is a poor scholar, but the costume and headgear worn by the actress doing this role showed elsewise. On the contrary, the female lead, the carp fairy, who disguised herself as the Prime Minister's daughter Jin Mudan, looked too poor. And then the heavenly soldiers who were out to capture her simply looked like the average "human" soldiers, and if not because of i saw Zhong Kui the heavenly ghost catcher appeared in the clip, I wouldn't have realised that they were actually doing the roles of heavenly soldiers. Even then, the appearance of Zhong Kui is a flop to me as well.



Not that I value packaging over other aspects in Chinese opera, but I believe that outlook appearance (costume, makeup, hairdo), singing, acting and stage design are equally important, not forgetting that this is afterall a form of performing arts. Unfortunately, this is one big problem in many Hokkien opera troupes in China at the moment, whereby the troupes are more concerned over acting, and sometimes singing, but overlooked on other areas. This, I feel, is a very crucial setback in the promoting of this opera form, as it will make people think of Hokkien opera as a shabby, sub-standard form of Chinese opera.

Walking in the Rain

Although this blog focus mainly on Chinese opera, this time round I shall talk about Chinese folk dance instead. Why the move, you may ask, but I have to point out that both art forms are very closely linked to one another. Ancient Chinese opera, for example, was developed from folk religious dance, and it is not uncommon to see dance choreography being incorporated into Chinese opera shows nowadays.

The dance which I want to showcase here is titled "Walking in the Rain". This dance was inspired by Puxian opera excerpt "Ruilan Walking in the Rain", and was performed by Fujian Province Dance Troupe in the 50s. Puxian opera has very unique sets of gestures and movements, and it's not hard for the audience to catch a glimpse of that in this dance. These movements were so delicate and unique that this dance immediately caught the attention of many fellow professional practitioners in the dance scene.

The Golden Phoenix

Chiling Village of Zhangpu county is a place in Zhangpu county resided mainly by the She minority group. Despite it's relatively unknown status as compared to other big cities in Zhangzhou, it has found itself in the limelight after an opera troupe from this village, Jin Feng Xiangju Opera Troupe, became the top touring Hokkien opera troupe in Malaysia (as described in my previous post). Troupe leader Lan Yajin has now started a second opera troupe, and is planning to conquer other overseas venues like Singapore as well. I certainly look forward to that day!

Malaysia's "Champion Touring Hokkien Opera Troupe"

For those who are avid Hokkien opera fans in Singapore would probably know that the "champion touring Hokkien opera troupe" (local ones excluded) in Singapore is Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe. Then how many know who's the Malaysian equivalent of the same honour? It's Jinfeng Xiangju Troupe from Zhangpu county, Zhangzhou. Other than geographical differences of their home base, Jinfeng Xiangju Opera Troupe is different from Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe too in the sense it is not a government-sponsored troupe. Can you image this: since the troupe's founding 4 years ago, it had performed 393 days in total! With such a glorious achievement, I really want to see how the troupe's like in action...

Teochew Opera Version of "The Teacher, The Thief"

Our troupe has not been performing our classic "The Teacher, The Thief" for quite a while already. It's kind of a good thing for us, less our audience complain that we're always doing the same show over and over again! So here is a clip of this classic show, not in Hokkien, but in Teochew, by Tan Chor Hwee's troupe for your enjoyment!

Tang Meiyun's Female Impersonation

Tang Meiyun is a renowned xiaosheng actress in Taiwanese opera. Because of her suave and manly stage appearance, it is very hard for one to accept if she was to cross over to take on dan roles. In fact, in one of her shows, "Qin Xuemei Punishes Her Son", she took on the title role of Qin Xuemei and the result was devastating. However, recently I found this clip on tudou.com, and I thought it wasn't that bad. This show was titled "Zhuang Zhou Tests His Wife", in which Tang Meiyun took on the role of Zhuang Zhou's wife Tian Yun. Her acting wasn't very outstanding, I would say, but I feel that her "manliness" was suitable for this role, as Tian Yun is not a typical feminine character, but a very tough woman who had to make a very head-splitting decisionas to whether to chop off her "dead" husband's head to save her" lover" (her "lover" was in fact the transformation of her husband, who had faked death to test Tian Yun's loyalty towards him), or preserve her husband's corpse and let her "lover" die of a strange illness. In this aspect, an actress who is too "soft" or feminine would be deemed inappropriate because it would not bring out the role's strong character.

Tang Meiyun as a dan

Tang Meiyun as a sheng

Wacky Pseudo-Taiwanese Opera "The Butterfly Lovers"

Here're clips from a pseudo-Taiwanese opera show (It's actually Pili puppet show overlaid with Taiwanese opera soundtrack), and I thought it was real wacky. Enjoy!

A Clip from Gezi Opera "Shao Jianghai"

"Shao Jianghai" is the most classic and popular show of Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe. It has even gained the reputation of being "the most classic show of a minor opera genre" by critics. Because of this show, Chinese opera practitioners outside Fujian province started to realise Gezi opera's existence. This show is also the first Gezi opera show to compete with other major opera genres to clinch the prestigious "National Project to the Distillation Of the Stage Art" award (top 10 selected works will be made into DVDs and released China wide). Unfortunately, it did not made it into the finals, but then again, it was a big achievement to even make it into the semi-finals, a major step to push this operatic form beyond the boundaries of Fujian province.

However, when there're achievements, there're negative aspects too. Since 1999, the troupe has been putting full attention into this show, having made up to 5 major revisions till date. This amount of attention has caused the troupe to put less focus on other shows, and it was said that other than "The Grievances of Dou'E", which the troupe had specially produced to take part in the International Hokkien Opera Festival in Taipei in 2006, they had virtually no new shows. A Xiamen friend of mine even lamented that for the past 5 years in Xiamen, all he can watch of the troupe was "Shao Jianghai" and nothing else!

On a side note: Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe is scheduled to perform in Singapore in around April, in conjunction with the birthday celebration of Lord Chenghuang at Lor Koo Chye Sheng Hong Temple. Details will be put up once released by the temple.

Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe's "Shao Jianghai" to Appear on CCTV's Spring Festival Chinese Opera Gala Once Again

Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe will be featured in CCTV (China Central Television)'s Spring Festival Chinese Opera Gala once again this year. This year, the troupe will send representatives to perform in an excerpt from their most popular show to date, "Shao Jianghai". This will be their second time performing excerpts from Shao Jianghai again on this gala, the first being in 2003. Back then, they performed a song titled "Garbage Soup", a light-hearted song from the opera, which was originally written by the late Gezi opera master Shao Jianghai for a real Gezi opera show. This time round, the troupe will be performing another excerpt titled "The Plowing Song". This excerpt is another highlight of the opera, which features actors using both traditional Chinese opera gestures, contemporary theatre techniques and modern dance movements to create the impression of rice planting in the padi field.



Xiamen Municipality Gezi Opera Troupe is the only Gezi opera troupe that has even appeared on the Spring Festival Chinese Opera Gala, not once, but 5 times, including this year. In 2002, the troupe had their debut appearance on the gala performing selection from "The Egretta Garzetta Goddess". That was followed by "Garbage Song" from "Shao Jianghai" in 2003, "Bride from Amoy" in 2004, and selection from "The Teacher, The Thief" in 2006.

"Rojak" Broken Bridge

For those who are from my opera troupe would know that we're currently rehearsing a new excerpt titled "Broken Bridge" from "Madam White Snake". In the spirit of rehearsal, I've decided to showcase a version of this "Broken Bridge", but somewhat a rojak version. Why would I call it rojak is because this performance is a combination of Yueju, Chuanju (Sichuan opera) and Yuju (chief opera genre of Henan). The role of Madam White Snake was performed by Fang Yafen in Yueju style, Xiao Qing (green snake) performed by Xiao Xiangyu in Chuanju stye and Xu Xian by Tao Changjin in Chuanju style. One interesting part is that although the singing and acting was very much authentic, the dialogues between the 3 actors are rather funny, because the 3 characters are all speaking in different dialects and they don't seem to understand one another!

International Hokkien Opera Gala - Hokkien Opera From China, Taiwan and Singapore to Perform Alongside Next Month

For the upcoming Chinese Cultural Festival, 3 Hokkien opera troupes, one each from Taiwan, China and Singapore respectively, will be coming together to perform in a few excerpts for our local audiences. The three troupes participating in this gala are: A Yuan Opera Troupe (阿源戏班) from Taiwan, Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe (漳州市芗剧团) from Zhangzhou, China, and our very own Bukit Panjang Hokkien Konghuay Opera Troupe. This performance gala will be taged over 3 nights in 3 different community clubs, and the details are as follow:

Date: 29 Feb. 2008
Venue: Tampines East Community Club theatratte
Time: 7.30pm
Tickets: $10, $20
Programmes:
"The Secret Engagement" from "Romance of the Dragon Princess" (Hokkien Konghuay Opera Troupe)
"The Arrogant Princess" (Hokkien Konghuay Opera Troupe)
"Daiyu Buries the Fallen Flowers" from "Romance of the Red Mansion" (Hokkien Konghuay Opera Troupe)
"Shanbo Bids Yingtai Farewell" from "The Butterfly Lovers" (Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe)
"Chen San Brings Water" and "Yi Chun Stops Chen San" from "Chen San Wu Niang" (A Yuan Opera Troupe)


Date: 1 Mar. 2008
Venue: Taman Jurong Community Club
Time: 7.30pm
Tickets: $5
Programmes:
"The Secret Engagement" from "Romance of the Dragon Princess" (Hokkien Konghuay Opera Troupe)
"The Arrogant Princess" (Hokkien Konghuay Opera Troupe)
"Daiyu Buries the Fallen Flowers" from "Romance of the Red Mansion" (Hokkien Konghuay Opera Troupe)
"Shanbo Bids Yingtai Farewell" from "The Butterfly Lovers" (Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe)
"Yi Chun Stops Chen San" and "Double Jealousy" from "Chen San Wu Niang" (A Yuan Opera Troupe)


Date: 2 Mar. 2008
Venue: Chong Pang Community Club multi-purpose hall
Time: 7.30pm
Tickets: Free admission
Programmes:
"The Secret Engagement" from "Romance of the Dragon Princess" (Hokkien Konghuay Opera Troupe)
"The Arrogant Princess" (Hokkien Konghuay Opera Troupe)
"Daiyu Buries the Fallen Flowers" from "Romance of the Red Mansion" (Hokkien Konghuay Opera Troupe)
"Shanbo Bids Yingtai Farewell" from "The Butterfly Lovers" (Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Troupe)
"Wu Song and Pan Jinlian" (A Yuan Opera Troupe)

Quanzhou: The Hometown of "Nanyin" 2

Previously I've written about nanyin performances in the parks of Quanzhou every evening, and now, here is another video clip of the same ensemble performing another piece titled "Thank You Your Highness" (感谢公主).

This piece is taken from Liyuan opera titled "Zhu Bian", which tells the story of a Song dynasty official Zhu Bian, who was sent to the Jurchen kingdom on a foreign diplomacy mission and was forced by the Jurchen King to marry the Princess. When Zhu Bian refused, he was locked up, and after being persuaded by the palace maids, he finally agreed to marry the Princess, but only in name. For sixteen years, Zhu Bian and the Princess maintained a brother-and-sister relationship, and upon seeing that Zhu Bian was utterly unmoved by power and riches, the Jurchen King finally decided to let him return to his homeland. This piece of music is the duet between Zhu Bian and the Princess before Zhu Bian set off back home.


Lyrics:
（朱弁：）
感谢公主汝此深恩无比
念着朱弁 刻骨铭心 我须当谨记
（公主：）
记得当初伫许玉楼前
许时节我曾共哥恁相见
一心所望爱卜共我哥恁结成连理
谁知到今旦反成（於）参商两星
（朱弁：）
今卜有什乜路会报答
报答公主汝此深恩义
（公主：）
哥汝须谨记 我哥汝今须当谨记
记得十六年来恩义
爱卜相见 除非着南柯梦里
爱卜相见 除非着南柯梦里

Rough English translation:
(Zhu Bian:)
Thank you Your Highness, for the kindness you've showered upon me,
I, Zhu Bian, will never ever forget.
(Princess:)
Remember the day when you appeared in front of my chateau,
I've fallen in love in you, and hoping that both of us will be married,
But who would have thought that we will get separated as like today.
(Zhu Bian:)
There's nothing I can do,
To repay Your Highness' deep love for me.
(Princess:)
My Lord, please do not forget,
The deep relationship we had for the past 16 years,
For we will not be able to see each other again, other than in our dreams.

Zhangzhou's Huang Yamei Gezi Opera Troupe In Action

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.

Zhangzhou's Zhangpu Xiangju Opera Troupe In Action

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

Quanzhou: The Hometown of "Nanyin"

Nanyin music, the classical music of the south, has got a history of about a thousand years or so, and is the oldest and most well-preserved musical form known to the Chinese presently, which still showed musical influences from the Han, Jin, Tang and Song dynasty. Quanzhou is the hometown for this form of music, otherwise known as Nan Guan, and every evening, such musical performances would take place all over the city in the major parks.

This is one of the pieces from a Nanyin ensemble performing next to Quanzhou cultural centre on one of the evenings I was there, titled "Why Did I?" (我为乜). This is a classical piece from the folk story of "Qin Xuemei", whereby unwedded widow Qin Xuemei (and her in-laws, I supposed) were lamenting that Shang Luo, the son of Qin's unwedded husband with another woman, is becoming unfilial and scolding Qin for punishing him when he's not even Qin's biological son.



Lyrics:
我为乜 我为乜只处冷冷清清孤单
玉洁冰清 我受尽艰辛 望你成器
我只门前 我只门前长挂有只旌表个金字
听你说 我今听你说 说出亲疏言语
言语亲疏 阮今情愿 子今情愿卜返去乡里

孙不肖 致惹你娘亲心受气
商家只有一孙儿
日后若有差错
教你公婆今卜顾谁
所靠商郎夫 你似颜回寿 耽误阮双人
你在九泉何忍
我爹爹 公婆娘亲障说
你在九泉心何忍
眼睁睁 眼睁睁 叫都袂应
玉不琢 不成器 不由人 不珠泪
只处暗流目滓
看儿孙行动举止 亲像我儿商琳伊来再出世
今旦日 行无踪 踪无影
日后若再相逢 除非着南柯梦里
苦伤悲 阮泪淋漓
火里莲花 今旦袂得相见
火里个莲花 今旦袂得相见

Rough English translation:
(Qin Xuemei:)
Why did I ended up in such loneliness,
Staying chaste and enduring all hardship just to make sure you grow up to be a useful person?
Because of you I've chosen to remain as an unwed widow,
But hearing you say such hurtful words today makes me feel like giving up all hopes.

(Shang Lin's parents:)
What an unfilial grandson you are, making your mother angry,
Our Shang family has got only an offspring in you,
If you're to meet with any mishap,
Who are we, your grandparents, going to depend on?
(Qin Xuemei:)
Shang Lin my husband, why did you pass away so early and made both of us your widow;
How can you bear to leave us alone in this world?
Jade must be polished to become useful; I have no choice and I'm not allow to cry,
All I can do is to cry behind the backs of other people.
(Shang Lin's parents:)
Look at Shang Luo reminds me of my son Shang Lin,
But alas, he's no longer around.
The only way to see him again is only in my dreams.

Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Excerpt Review: "An'an Acknowledges His Mother"

Title: An'an Acknowledges His Mother (安安认母)

Performer: Zhu Lijuan

Director: Wu Ziming

Background

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.

Ratings

Script: * * * *

Music: * * * *

Directing sense: * * *

Acting: * * * 1/2

Singing: * * * 1/2

Final rating: * * * 1/2

Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Excerpt Review: "Jingniang Sends Off Her Brother"

Title: Jingniang Sends Off Her Brother (京娘送兄)

Performer: Yang Zhenzhen

Director: Wu Ziming

Background

"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.

Ratings

Script: * * * 1/2

Music: * * * 1/2

Directing sense: * * * *

Acting: * * * 1/2

Singing: * * * 1/2

Final rating: * * * 1/2

Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Excerpt Review: "Summer Snow"

Title: Summer Snow (六月雪)

Performer: Xu Yuxiang

Director: Wu Ziming

Background

"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.

Ratings

Script: * * * *

Music: * * * *

Directing sense: * * * *1/2

Acting: * * * *

Singing: * * * *

Final rating: * * * *

Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Excerpt Review: "Sorrowful Meeting At Shen Garden"

Title: Sorrowful Meeting at Shen Garden (沈园绝唱)

Performer: Zheng Yaling as Lu You

Director: Wu Ziming

Background

"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.

Ratings

Script: * * * *

Music: * * * *1/2

Directing sense: * * * 1/2

Acting: * * * 1/2

Singing: * * * *

Final rating: * * * *

Zhangzhou City Xiangju Opera Excerpt Review: "Wu Han Kills His Wife"

Title: Wu Han Kills His Wife (吴汉杀妻)

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.

Ratings

Script: * * * * 

Music: * * * 1/2

Directing sense: * * * *

Acting: * * * * 

Singing: * * * *

Final rating: * * * *