The Suzhou
Kunqu Opera Theater will perform
The Palace of Eternal
Youth, a 17th-century traditional opera, over three nights in
Beijing this month. The 27-act play is a scaled-down version of the
original epic work.
The performance follows last month's production by the same
troupe of another Kunqu classic, The Peony
Pavilion, which drew favorable attention in the capital city.
The Palace of Eternal Youth will continue to promote the
revival of the ancient genre, designated by UNESCO as a masterpiece
of Oral and Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The original version of the opera, written by Hong Sheng
(1645-1704), consists of 50 acts, only a handful of which are
normally performed today. Many have been irretrievably lost. The
version by the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre was recreated
and rearranged by noted Kunqu expert Gu Duhuang.
The Palace of Eternal Youth is a mutual effort by
professionals from
Taiwan, Hong
Kong, Suzhou -- the birthplace of Kunqu, in east
China's Jiangsu
Province -- and other mainland cities.
Gu is also directing the revived opera, while Academy Award
winner Yip Kam-Tim from Hong Kong designed the sets and costumes.
Chen Chite, a Kunqu-loving entrepreneur from Taiwan, is
financing and producing the performance.
Since the 1940s, Gu has been devoted to preserving
Kunqu, searching out and restoring many scripts that were
on the verge of being lost forever.
He also served as deputy director of the Suzhou Cultural Bureau
in early 1950s and took charge of the Suzhou Kunqu Opera
Ensemble when it was established in 1956. In 2002, Gu received the
Award of Notable Artistic Achievement in Kunqu Opera by
China's Ministry of Culture.
Elegant, slow moving and often abstruse, Kunqu was the
theatre art favored by high and low alike during the Ming Dynasty
(1368-1644) and early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). But it became
increasingly intellectualized over the years and eventually fell
out of favor with the common people, replaced by Peking Opera as
the popular favorite.
Although it has managed to survive, Kunqu's continued
existence has been precarious for decades.
Now, however, both the government and public have a better
understanding of the importance of preserving the art and are
investing substantial money and effort into it. The problem
everyone faces today is how to do it.
"It is suicidal to turn the traditional style into a modern one,
turn the elegant form into a popular one, turn the Chinese opera
into something like the Western theatre," Gu said. He is working to
preserve the art in as pure a form as possible, rather than
incorporating flashy gimmicks and modern novelties in order to
attract a wider audience.
Gu notes that the value of Kunqu is not counted in the
box office: it is the cultural and artistic heritage that is
precious.
(China Daily, China.org.cn December 1, 2004)