Shanghai Yueju Opera Theatre

An evening of classic yue opera stories and excerpts from famous repertoires.

A star-studded troupe – the most distinguished yue opera performers in China.

Centuries of refinement and culture distilled into portrayals of unrepentant love in three masterpieces of classic yueopera – plus a performance of the best-loved repertoires.

The award-winning Shanghai Yueju Opera Theatre is considered the best yueopera troupe in China today. This is a fabulous opportunity to see this elegant all-woman troupe perform a mix of poetic and lyrical yue operas.

With Chinese surtitles and English scene synopses

Feb 13 7:30pm
A Dream of Red Mansions

Feb 14 2:30pm
A collection of famous excerpts

Feb 14 7:30pm
Love with a Fairy Carp

Feb 15 7:30pm
Romance of West Chamber

The Artistry of Shanghai Yue Opera - Lecture Demonstration
12 Feb 2009

4:30 - 6:00pm

Speaker: Li Li
In Putonghua
Free Admission, no tickets required

The head of Shanghai Yueju Opera Theatre will talk about the artistry of yue and the programmes performed in the Festival. Members of the Theatre will demonstrate excerpts from renowned repertoires including A Dream of Red Mansions and Butterfly Lovers.

Co-present with the City University of Hong Kong Chinese Civilisation Centre

Shanghai Yueju Opera Theatre - Backstage Tour
15 Feb 2009

5:30 - 6:30pm
By invitation only

Co-presented with City Univeristy of Hong Kong Chinese Cilivisation Centre

And the Dream Lingers On
by Elbe Lau

The mention of the yue opera, A Dream of Red Mansions, instantly rekindles fond memories among hundreds of thousands of Chinese people. A Yunnan-raised friend of mine recalls: One morning shortly after the end of the Cultural Revolution, her parents didn’t let her go to school. It was not that she was sick, but that the decade-long ban on traditional operas was finally lifted. The three-generation family ended up parking themselves inside the theatre to watch three showings of A Dream of Red Mansions,(1962) on the silver screen. The passage of time has not altered veteran opera-goers’ love ofA Dream of Red Mansions. In December 1960, the Shanghai Yueju Opera Theatre (SYOT) took Hong Kong by storm with its debut performance. Talking about the hard-earned tickets purchased after queuing through the night still gives many opera buffs a surge of pride.

Among the avid fans are many intellectuals. The famed Hong Kong writer and retired professor of Chinese University, Xiao Si, says she couldn’t have been more sceptical about the film before seeing it, because the original novel was so perfect it hardly seemed possible to adapt it to the screen. Yet she fell head over heels in love with the screen adaptation, finding herself watching it again and again. Malaysian poet Mui Shuk-ching has also written in praise of playwright Xu Jin’s “magic hands” in adapting the novel to the opera¹.

A Dream of Red Mansions and yue opera have long been called a perfect match. Li Li, the current SYOT Director, says: “The original novel by Cao Xueqin is a many-stranded story involving a broad spectrum of human relationships. Xu Jin had the thick plot distilled into this highly condensed stage version, with the love triangle between Baoyu, Daiyu and Baochai as the backbone of the script. The dominance of female actors in yue opera has given the art a sensitive, relatively feminine artistic character; its elegant, lyrical tunes and vocal styles fit very well with the meandering romance between scholars and beauties.”

A regional operatic genre which originated in the early 20th century, yue opera evolved gradually from a primitive form of narrative folk art to a more mature performing art. Towards the late 1930s, it soared to prominence in Shanghai, coming under the strong influence of the city’s metropolitan culture. In 1942, as a result of the reform spearheaded by Yuan Xuefen, the founding director of the SYOT, yue opera incorporated the nuanced performing techniques of Kun opera with elements of spoken drama and film from the West, thereby creating its stage aesthetic which is both evocative and realistic.

To commemorate the opening of the Shanghai Grand Theatre, the SYOT introduced a new version of Dream of the Red Mansions in 1999, a sumptuous production known for its visual flamboyance and sophisticated mise-en-scène. The Hong Kong Arts Festival presents the classical version, which focuses on the depiction of characters and the build-up of dramatic tension. For those English-speaking audiences who wish to understand the opera in more depth, the English subtitled disc set produced by the Shanghai Grand Theatre may provide useful reference.

Romance of the West Chamber is another attraction in this year’s HKAF programme. The play was shelved for over 15 years after successfully premiering in 1953, with Yuan Xuefen as the star. Director Li explains: “Among the existing stage adaptations, the yue opera is the one which reflects most comprehensively the original novel by Wang Shifu. Romance of the West Chamber is among the four staple plays of the yue opera repertoire, others including Dream of the Red Mansions, The Butterfly Lovers and Xianglin’s Wife (based on the renowned writer Lu Xun’s novella New Year Sacrifice). Though exquisitely written, Romance of the West Chamber does not have many plot twists. That partly explains why it has not spawned an adaptation by regional operas – the exception among the four. Because of this, the acting finesse of performers has become key – the end result would be insipid without well-fleshed out characters.”

To revive the glory of Romance of the West Chamber, retired actors such as Yuan Xuefen, Xu Yulan and Wang Wenjuan, among others, were called upon to participate in the rehearsals to tutor the young actors on their delivery. “The leading actors Fang Yafen and Qian Huili for the upcoming Hong Kong showcase have breathed new life to the characters. We are all set to give the Hong Kong audience an unforgettable evening,” says Director Li.

Love with a Fairy Carp tells the adventure of a lovelorn carp fairy determined to marry her true love in the mortal world. A tautly written comedy about mistaken identity that includes dazzling acrobatic display and stage effects, it is a rare gem in yue opera and promises to offer a sensational theatrical experience. Director Li adds that the fighting routines in yue opera are vastly different from those in Beijing or Kun operas – the wu (martial) elements are to be rendered in the wen (civil) style, the very aesthetic quality which sets yue opera apart.

¹ Appearance of Flower, Spirit of Jade Shanghai Opera on Film, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, 2004, pp 10-11 (in Chinese).

Elbe Lau is member of the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong). He is now an editor.