KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 13 Chinese opera — one of the oldest art forms in the world — is underappreciated and often misunderstood.
Beyond the thick makeup and shrilly vocals, it is a complex and sophisticated entertainment, as audiences discovered at the Beijing Opera Excerpts showcase by Dama International Opera.
The headliners were Jia Jingsong and Zhang Yanhong, experienced teachers from Beijing National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts, and their colleague Wu Yanqiu served as artistic adviser.
Featuring a snippet each from classic Chinese tapestries Farewell My Concubine, The Jade Bracelet and Chastising Cao Cao — they covered many subject matters, as the Beijing or Peking opera is known for.
Jia says the highly technical and prestigious art-form is one of the many manifestations of Chinese opera.
Unlike, say, Italian opera which has vocal classifications such as soprano or tenor, Beijing opera is characterised by four main roles — the male (sheng), female (dan), painted-face (jing) and clown (chou).
Interestingly, the roles were performed by a male cast — this is because women weren’t allowed to do so until the 1920s.
“Male actors used a shrilly, high pitched voice to play female roles,” Wu explains, before highlighting the male actors who became popular for playing female roles.
Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun, Cheng Yanqiu and Xun Huisheng are known as the “Four Great Dan,” and their unique styles are taught in schools.
According to Jia, an actor with “virtuosity and skills in singing, dancing and acrobatics” make a Beijing opera show “stand out from its well known stories”.
Wu points out the highly codified and stylised form of Beijing opera also involves speech, the way actors use their hands and eyes, and how the showcase is interpreted.
An actor’s unique flair also differentiates his performance from another actor playing the same role.
Those with five to eight years of training beforehand can also enrol for a four-year operatic course at the acclaimed Beijing National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts.
“But this does not necessarily produce a good actor, even after 10 years of training,” says Wu.
Chinese folklore and literature such as Dream of the Red Chamber, Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West — all portraying ancient China — form the narratives in Beijing opera.
It was widely enjoyed before the Cultural Revolution, where many restrictions were imposed and only propaganda-themed operas were shown.
Audiences have also declined recently, due to “other forms of entertainment which became popular ever since China opened to the world 30 years ago,” says Wu.
But thankfully, the Beijing opera has been updated in some ways.
