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Popular opera to have a re-run
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PEKING Opera play “The Gold-Woven Melody” enjoyed a successful debut last year with both audiences and critics hailing it.
The production will be staged again at the Shanghai Grand Theater on July 17 and 18 with an even more impressive ending and spectacular scenes.
Compared with a lot of Peking Opera performances that mainly deal with politics and wars, “The Gold-Woven Melody” is one of the few that displays the emotions and dignity of intellectuals.
The play is based on a true story that happened in that Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Chinese scholar Gu Zhenguan, who wrote the famous poem “The Gold-Woven Melody,” spends 20 years trying to rescue his good friend Wu Zhaoqian who is wrongly imprisoned.
However, when they meet, he finds that his friend has changed a lot. Friendship and mutual trust are tested at that time.
Directed by Max Lee from Taiwan’s Guoguang Opera Company, the production features aesthetic elements of Peking Opera in music, staging and performing style.
Lee says that the story is told in traditional Chinese theatrical style that incorporates both singing and dancing.
Other traditional Chinese art forms such as painting, calligraphy and seal carving are also projected onto a multimedia screen as the stage backdrop.
Celebrated Peking Opera performer Guan Dongtian plays the protagonist Gu Zhenguan. Guan spent a lot of time reading relevant books to get as close to the character as possible.
“Gu is a person who perseveres despite hardships and challenges,” Guan says. “Though he looks delicate and tender, he is pretty strong inside. I am lucky to play this part.”
According to Ma Bomin, an expert in Peking and Kunqu operas, the play provides an in-depth insight into the lives and emotions of intellectuals. It is a story of friendship, dignity, commitment and humanity.
The show will be presented in both English and Chinese subtitles.
Shanghai Grand Theater is inviting readers to submit their English translation of “The Gold-Woven Melody” poems. The Chinese verses can be found at www.shgtheatre.com. English translation should be sent to shgtheatre2015@163.com by July 5, along with the translator’s name and contact information.
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