BEIJING OPERA ON TOUR IN EUROPE

BEIJING OPERA EXTRACTS BY THE TIANJIN NATIONAL ACADEMY

The National Academy of Tianjin, an independent municipality of China, located 15o km away from Beijing, offered at the Toursky Theatre on last 8 and 9 November a selection of Peking Opera extracts….

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The reason they did not present a whole Opera is double. First, it allows the singers-actors-acrobats to show the extent of their agility and virtuosity: Peking Opera is an art requiring a high master degree in acrobatics…. But reducing Peking Opera to an acrobatic performance is hazardous. Peking Opera is very complex and the topics are infinitely various: it deals with love story, concubine story, and the great Chinese history or even ghost and fox story. These stories, warrior epics or borrowed legends, inspired from literary pieces, folklore and literary traditions are executed in more or less acrobatic forms, with acting and singing parts and for sure, battle scenes but not always….

In the program chosen by the company, one could appreciate an extract of a Fox Tale. The fox with 9 tails was embodied with brio by a young actress and this is usual to see (young) women acting these kinds of characters whose sex may change at the discretion of its transformations and lives. This presentation makes us think that we won’t only have battle stories and acrobatics. We can expect some more singing and acting parts. So, after the intermission, the company introduces an extract of the Autumn River with a very gifted young actress: her singing was really beautiful and her presence on stage, deeply generous. Of course, they conclude the show with the story of the legendary Monkey King and his tricks! The actor on stage was a very great actor whom energy and talent are incredible: he was the one who played the winged innkeeper in the first extract. This extract delighted the audience; satisfied indeed by the program even one can be critic about the lack of unity in some scenes – especially during the Fox Tale when the army has to walk like one man. Anyway, the artists have a really good master of the Beijing operas techniques, including the musicians with their drums, flutes, guitar, lute and other cymbals.

And this is the second reason they choose to present only extracts: the palette of the characters on stage -with their assorted clothes and make up- shows the diversity of the characters in Peking Opera. One can say that it is a very good choice for a first approach of this kind of Opera because it is not so well known in France. So to conclude, even if I had preferred to see a complete Beijing opera, this set had the beautiful aim to make french audience discover the different facets of the Peking Opera. The magic operated!

But the question is: when will they present a complete Peking Opera in France? Of course, western ears are not accustomed to the acute sounds of the Chinese voices and instruments… Is it the only reason that makes the directors of French theatres and the Chinese art directors not dare to present it? Cos I am sure that some contemporary Peking Opera with lighting and other modern effects could be presented to western audience with success. DVDM