An epic tale to be relished

The Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe is currently taking the massive production The Palace of Eternal Life - each performance spans across four nights - on a tour across China

After much lauded shows in Guangzhou and Shenzhen of Guangdong province and Kunming of Yunnan province in June, The Palace of Eternal Life by the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe will be shown at the Shanghai Grand Theatre from Sept 21 to 24.

Theater critic Zhang Jinqiong praised the performance in Guangzhou as "perfect all round, from the leading actors to the minor roles" while Chinese news portal Kunming.cn said that the audiences in Kunming were "intoxicated by the beautiful singing and fantastic stage and costume design". The reception from the Shanghai public has been overwhelming as well - tickets were sold out months ahead of the event.

In an exclusive interview with China Daily USA, Gu Haohao, director of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, said that The Palace of Eternal Life requires a large troupe to perform because the epic work tells a love story in a complicated social context, touching on multiple issues faced by people from all walks of life. The cast for the play comprises more than 100 performers.

But this will not be the first time The Palace of Eternal Life is shown to Shanghai audiences. The play first premiered in the city at the Shanghai Grand Theatre in 2007 and was jointly produced by journalist-turned-playwright Tang Sifu and Cai Zhengren, former director of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe.

As the original play by Hong Sheng would have taken a week to present, Tang rearranged the script to create a condensed version that comprises four acts across four days.

During those times, the allocated funding from the city was far from sufficient and the duo faced great difficulty in finding sponsorships. Cai recalled that Tang even had to use 400,000 yuan ($59,000) in savings to make the show a reality.

Born in Suzhou in 1941, Cai was the eldest among his seven other siblings. In 1953, Cai's father made him enter the auditions for Kunqu students by the Shanghai Folk Theater School. But it was not because the child was talented in the art form - it was simply the most practical thing to do for a man who was struggling to feed his family.

"My father knew that once I was admitted, my food and lodging would be covered by the State," he recalled.

Cai knew nothing about Kunqu and the only question that came to mind was whether he would be able to wear the robe that Chinese emperors were often depicted in. When the answer turned to be positive, he gladly went for the auditions. As it turned out, Cai had a flair for Kunqu.

Under the tutelage of Maestro Yu Zhenfei (1902-1993), Cai became so acclaimed for performing the leading role of Emperor Xuanzong in The Palace of Eternal Life that he was nicknamed "Emperor Cai".

This year's show will make its way to Beijing's National Center for the Performing Arts following the Shanghai leg. The tour of the Chinese capital will be from Nov 16 to 19.

Kunqu's tough times

According to Cai, traditional folk operas in China went through a difficult period in the 1990s. He said that reception for the art form was so poor that each show was a money-losing venture. The troupe on several occasions even had to borrow money from Shanghai's cultural bureau in order to pay their crew and performers.

However, Kunqu was ushered into the spotlight in 2001 when UNESCO listed the form of Chinese opera as one of the masterpieces of oral and intangible heritage of humanity. Cai said that he was moved by the news and thought that things were finally looking up for the 400-year-old art form.

"I always knew that people would re-discover the beauty of Kunqu, but I didn't expect them to love it as much as they do today," he said.

A growing number of young audiences started to become interested in Kunqu thereafter, but most only knew of the famous, often-performed plays such as The Peony Pavilion. The duo said that their aim is to raise awareness of the art form by presenting more Kunqu plays across the nation.

Gu added that Kunqu is the most artistic form of folk opera in China, pointing out that the spoken parts as well as the lyrics possess an elegance and poetic flair that are second to none. Because of this, new Kunqu plays are rarely produced as today's playwrights find it difficult to recreate that level of sophistication.

A champion for Kunqu

The Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe has focused on the presentation of traditional Kunqu plays, such as The Peony Pavilion and other classical plays by its author Tang Xianzu (1550-1616). Last year, the company enjoyed a successful international tour with four productions of Tang Xianzu's works.

"We have been cautious about creating new plays because we don't want to make great efforts to create a new production only to have it forgotten after a few performances. We want to make sure our new plays are of high quality and have longevity," said Gu.

The latest production from the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe will be an adaptation of the literary classic Dream of the Red Chamber.

Playwright Luo Qian worked closely with Shen Yili, a leading artist of the troupe, to create the play. The story is told from the perspective of a character played by Shen called Xue Baochai.

Gu has hailed Shen and Hu Weilu - she plays the character Jia Baoyu - as outstanding representatives among Kunqu artists of their generation.

"This play was tailor-made for them and the troupe will continue creating new plays for these leading artists who are approaching their artistic prime," she said.

Dream of the Red Chamber will be the first original production that Shen is starring in since she won the 28th Plum Performance Award in 2015. The bi-annual award is China's highest accolade for theater performances.

The troupe said that it chose to premiere the play at the Shanghai Symphony Hall on Aug 3, a venue that usually hosts orchestra performances, because it wanted to break from the traditional mirror-framed setting.

"We will create a Ming-style lounge based on the imagery of traditional Chinese garden architectures. This will be the most appropriate way to appreciate Kunqu, an elegant art form refined by the literati," Gu said.

zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn