Revive an Ancient Opera

67May 2018WRITER and cultural researcher Yu Qiuyu wrote in his Where Does the Flute Melody Go : “If a culture has fascinated a nation for a long time, itmust be one that reaches deep into the national psyche. Several cultural fetishes with large fol-lowings emerged after Chinese culture and artsDating back to the mid-14th century, the Kunqu Opera is lauded as the mother of all Chinese mu-sical dramas. It is loved for its melodious arias, lyrical prose passages, stylized dance movements, and elaborate costumes and stage settings. One Chinese singer aims to revive this ancient art and introduce it to audiences around the world.By staff reporter LI YUANmatured. The first are the Tang Dynasty poems, the second calligraphy, and the third, in my view, is the Kunqu Opera.” Kunqu Coming to Lincoln CenterHao Meng studied Kunqu Opera for four years at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, but didn’t start her career in this field after graduation. She was drawn back to the art after an incident in the U.S.While visiting her brother, who was studying in the U.S., Hao Meng attended a party with some of his friends. For most of the time, they talked about a the-sis her brother recently published in a professional journal. The language and academic barriers kept Hao Meng out of their conversation, which made her feel like an outsider.Then her brother turned to her: “Hao Meng, sing a passage of Kunqu for us.” She hesitated, as the opera genre only has a small group of lovers even in China.She was not sure how would it be perceived by for-The Peony Pavilion is a masterpiece of Ming Dynasty playwright Tang Xianzu.68CHINA TODAYeign ears? At the encouragement of her brother, she performed a segment of The Peony Pavilion , and to her surprise, received warm applause from his Amer-ican friends.Days later at the Yellowstone National Park, Hao was impressed and inspired by local people’s efforts to protect the local elk population. “The 600-year-old Kunqu only has 600 or so professional players today. Doesn’t something of such cultural significance de-serve more efforts to preserve it?” She thought to herself.The oldest musical drama in China, Kunqu is called the mother of all Chinese operas, many of which have borrowed from or modeled themselves after it. Kunqu ’s influence waxed and waned in past centuries, but it has remained the standard-bearer for Chinese theatre arts, with unparalleled refinement of libretto, melody, choreography, and the subtle sentiments they convey. In 2001, it was proclaimed a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.When Hao Meng disclosed her intention to launch a project to preserve Kunqu , not all her friends were optimistic. “Do you think there is ‘rigid demand’ for the opera in a society of market economy?” Some asked. “Not everyone sees self-confidence as a rigid demand,” she replied. Eventually her friends and for-mer schoolmates were convinced.Last November, Hao founded the Belt and Road Kunqu Opera Theatre, which was inaugurated at a cultural industry forum in Beijing. Yang Fengyi, vice chairperson of China Theatre Association and presi-dent of Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, hailed it as an innovative move of recruiting social forces in pre-serving and promoting this ancient art.The newborn theater drew support from the cul-tural circle, investors, Kunqu educators, and foreign diplomats as well. “This testifies to the charm of Kunqu and the ardor of the general public to pre-serve and promote it,” said Hao Meng. At the forum, she received a special prize from Kevin Lee, chair of the Sino-American Cultural Organization, and was invited to perform at the Lincoln Center this year.Modern AdaptationOn December 31, 2017, the Belt and Road Kunqu Opera Theatre gave its first performance – a part of The Peony Pavilion – in Beijing. The play is a master-piece of Ming Dynasty playwright Tang Xianzu (1550 -1616), and has generated numerous iterations. What set Hao’s rendition apart from others is its stage light-ing and setting.Hao Meng was an assistant to director Zhang Yi-mou for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, and also for the Ital-ian opera Turandot staged in the National Stadium, colloquially known as the Bird’s Nest, in 2009. The ex-perience of working with Zhang opened her eyes to incorporating elements of Chinese culture into stage setting.For “A walk in the Garden” and “The Interruption of a Dream,” a well-known act of The Peony Pavilion , Hao and her team employed modern video and light-ing technologies to create a multi-layered effect and an ink painting illusion, which was well received by the audience. “The modernist setting gives new life to a classical play,” commented a female viewer.“Traditional Chinese operas like Kunqu should not end up in the museum,” said Han Ziyong, head of the management center of the China National Arts Fund. “The defining trait of arts is sharing. Traditional op-CulTure /new VisTasArtists perform Peking Opera acrobatics close to the audience.eras must pinpoint the best way to survive and thrive in modern times, reconciling old-time cultural genes with present-day tastes, or it will lose vitality for long-term development.”The audience is critical in the preservation of any opera, and needs to be educated and cultivated. At the theater’s debut, Hao Meng offered her audience an immersive experience – a display of sumptuous costumes and props situated around the doorway leading to the room of the stage. While observing these items close up, theatregoers could listen to staff members expounding on each one’s function and connotation. There was also a section of shadow play (an ancient form of storytelling and entertain-ment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures, called shadow puppets, which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen), where live performance was given, and the puppet making technique was demonstrated.This immersive ambience continued through-out the opera, with the cast performing very close to the audience, and taking questionsfrom them at intervals. The night wasalso punctuated by a suona (a horn-like woodwind instrument) performance by Zhous’ Band, which is now in the seventh generation, and Peking Opera acrobatics. Concerning her thoughts behind this design, Hao said, “Artists should take thepulse of cultural heritage, and adopt in-novative and technology-enhanced meth-ods. More regard should be given to the audience’s participation and experience,and making the performance more interactive to win their hearts. In this way, the participants will truly fall for traditional culture, inculcate stronger confidence in it, and feel the urge to protect it.”Appealing to Today’s AudiencesHao’s remake of “A walk in the Garden” and “The Interruption of a Dream” stars several celebrated Kunqu artists, and has received broad attention in the opera circle. She and her team are refining the play in preparation for an international tour.The Belt and Road Kunqu Opera Theatre has a staff of two dozen who are all trained opera artists in their 30s. “Opera players are hardworking, and have a strong sense of teamwork. In schools, we were repeatedly told to see ourselves as a vegetable in the garden, meaning we must support each other on the stage. This spirit is critical for a young team like ours,”Hao said. Her team shares the goal of reviving the an-cient art of Kunqu.For the first step, they collected dossiers of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) performance authorities, which included 11,498 plays staged for the royal fam-ily and general public during the time, along with records of props and costumes. In collaboration with Peking University and experts from other institutions, the theatre hopes to bring some very old plays back onto the stage. “There is a lot of work to be done, such as rewriting the play in modern Chinese, and modify-ing the plots to fit with the current social context,”Hao said. Many scholars and artists have shown in-terest in this project.The Belt and Road Kunqu Opera Theatre also plans to develop new media formats of the opera, including cartoon, film, mobile phone game, and TV drama. However, Yang Fengyi, herself a senior Kun-qu player, cautioned, “When promot-ing Kunqu internationally, we must befirmly grounded in native culture whiledeveloping a global vision. Chineseculture should stand its ground, andnever make excessive concessions topander to foreign cultures.” She spokefrom her experience of performingabroad. “We have underestimated theaesthetic capacity of the foreign audi-ence. People of different nations actu-ally have similar perceptions of art.”On this point, Hao agrees with Yang. “To revive Kunqu, we need innovative thinking. But innovation is in no way a subversion of tradition.” She opposes retrofitting foreign plays into Kunqu or reworking Kunqu into Western operas.With the support of several diplomats, the Belt and Road Kunqu Opera Theater will perform in the U.S., Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and other Asian countries this year, presenting authentic Kunqu to lo-cal audiences and disseminating Chinese culture on the global arena.“Every Chinese is a practitioner of the Chinese Dream, and every one of us is trying to find our po-sition in life. Nothing is better than following one’s dream and doing what one likes to do,” Hao said. C“When promoting Kunquinternationally, we mustbe firmly grounded innative culture whiledeveloping a global vision.”69May 2018。