It's been a while but Mao Weitao finally returns to the stage after a four-year absence. The veteran Yueju Opera star once again takes the lead part in Lu You and Tang Wan.
It's about time too. Fans and critics are happy she's back after taking time off to have a daughter. Her talent regularly draws gushing reviews and comments.
"It's as if the soul and spirit of the roles she plays have been poured into her body," says Pu Cunxin, vice president of the Beijing People's Arts Drama Theater. Mao and the Zhejiang-based Little Hundred-Flower Yueju Opera Troupe has the honor of opening the Fifth Shanghai International Arts Festival, which begins on Saturday.
"I hope our performance will set a landmark in Yueju Opera's development," says Mao, 42, who is also the president of the all-women troupe.
Considered the country's best "nu xiaosheng" (female who plays male characters) in Yueju Opera, Mao's latest role is Lu You, one of the greatest poets of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
Born in 1962 in Tongxiang County of neighboring Zhejiang Province, Mao's childhood dream was about as far removed from opera as possible. She fully intended on becoming a military surgeon.
Mao recalls that when she was a young girl, she even practiced giving needles to her dolls. That dream died after scoring 15 points less in a medical university entrance exam in 1977. About the same time, the Tongxiang Yueju Opera Troupe, now the Little Hundred-Flower Troupe, was in the process of recruiting new members.
Mao applied "just for fun" but unexpectedly impressed.
"I was already 18, the eldest among the 14 girls, when I started learning how to perform," says the two-time winner of the Plum Blossom Award, the country's highest honor for stage arts.
Though once a ballet student during her middle school days, Mao says she still found the shape-building lessons torturous. A "nu xiaosheng" performer wears boots with a 10-centimeter-high sole during a performance to raise their height closer to that of a man.
Mao admits she considered quitting many times during the first three years even though her elegant appearance and exquisite expressions were regarded as genius by her first instructor Chen Dongling.
The troupe's visit to Shanghai in 1980, marked the turning point in Mao's career and life. She met the late Yin Guifang, arguably the greatest "nu xiaosheng" in the history of Yueju Opera. Yin, 61 at the time, was suffering from paralysis of one side of the body. Nonetheless, Mao's talent impressed her and she insisted on providing the prodigy with further instruction.
"With her right hand malfunctioning, Yin could only display the performing skills by wearing one water sleeve," says Mao, her voice slightly choked with sobs. "It was the hottest time of the year and beads of sweat kept dropping from her forehead.
It suddenly struck me why such a prestigious artist could spare no pains in teaching an unknown girl like me free of charge." Mao realizes that Yin's pure and everlasting love and pursuit for the essence of art separated her from her peers. Mao has learned the lesson well and the result on stage is obvious.
In her 26-year career, Mao has performed nearly every young male character from the classic stories including Zhang Sheng in The West Chamber, Liang Shanbo of The Butterfly Lovers and Jia Baoyu in A Dream of Red Mansions.
No longer content with just performing, Mao has become involved in other aspects of the opera. She was elected president of the troupe last January. She says the extra duties are a challenge. Now she has to think more about administrative work, budgets and how the troupe can survive in the new market-oriented society.
"Audiences are getting discontent with century-old rhymes and plots," says Yang Xiaoqing, director of Lu You and Tang Wan -- the only Yueju Opera among more than 30 stage performances competing in the first Elite Stage Arts project throughout China.
"When Mao talked to me about employing some avant-garde lighting and stage designs, I immediately accepted the idea."
The concept has become a trend as most traditional operas in China are in the midst of a reformation process. Unlike the approach of many of its counterparts, Mao has opted for tranquil stage settings rather than big, busy, opulent designs. "Sometimes innovation can ruin the beauty of a traditional opera if it devalues the artistic essence," Mao says, also the acting deputy president of the China Traditional Opera Artist's Association. Compared with her relative cautious approach to reform, Mao is bold about stretching her performing skills.
In 2001, the veteran star appeared as "Dongfang Bubai," a transsexual man in China Central TV's Xiao Ao Jianghu (State of Divinity), adapted from Louis Cha's kung-fu novel. Her exaggerated makeup and bewitching postures evoked debate among fans.
Those familiar with her work found it strange seeing Mao playing a woman, after all, her entire career has been based entirely on men's roles. But her friend and fellow actress Chen Huiling says that though Mao is a man on stage, it hasn't affected her personality in the real world.
"In fact, Maomao, her nickname, is very feminine in real life and she enjoys everything a common woman will like, from chic clothes to raising a child," says Chen, who will play the role of the heroine Tang Wan in the forthcoming show. Standing under the spotlight for half her life, Mao still says the most touching and unforgettable moment has been the birth of her daughter two years ago. "I was so proud of my baby and myself as a mother," Mao says.
"The happiness I felt at that moment overwhelmed any joy the applause and awards have given me."
Though fully occupied by rehearsals and promoting the new play in the coming week, Mao's spare time will still be devoted to her daughter.
Lu You and Tang Wan
Time: 7:15 pm, October 17-19
Venue: Majestic Theater, 66 Jiangning Rd., Shanghai
Tickets: 60-500 yuan
Tel: 021-62720455, 021-62720702
(Eastday.com October 15, 2003)
