The Yueju opera player, Mao Weitao is a household name. She is celebrated for her performances of the male role over the last 25 years, and is now the head of the famous Xiaobaihua troupe in Zhejiang province, a troupe especially well known for its all-women cast. Now 42 years of age, Mao Weitao is still active on stage and in her desire to reform Yueju opera. CRI talked to her about Yueju opera, its future, and her own plans.
CRI: How is Yueju opera faring at the moment?
Mao: With the changes in society, and in the wake of numerous other forms of entertainment, opera is losing its audience, and is developing into a shadow of other art forms. What's more, it seems that opera has become an art for old people, as young people are showing little interest in it. Yueju opera is no longer a kind of mainstream entertainment. In the 1950s and 60s, when Yueju opera first came to Shanghai, it was a metropolitan art, it was a big attraction for all walks of life, but now it has declined to an art form that not many care about. So for us, we are in a relay race and we must ensure that we can pass on the baton to the next generation.
CRI: Why do you insist on using an all-women cast?
Mao: Yueju is at a crossroads, and now is the time to decide which path it should take. Let me make my opinion clear, the essence of Yueju opera can be found in using an all-women cast, and only by doing this can the opera maintain its special and unique charm, and stand out from the many other art forms. Yueju is a kind of opera that is characterized by poetic and graceful singing performances, and it is deeply marked by idealism. Yueju brings audiences to a spiritual world that people have been longing for but that has also long been neglected. This [spiritual world] can only be achieved through all-women performances.
CRI: How does a woman act a male role?
Mao: In Yueju opera, the male role is very special, it focuses on poetic temperament whilst neglecting gender differences, so that from an aesthetic aspect, the male role in Yueju opera is interpreted using what I would call a "double aesthetic standard." I have been playing the male role for 25 years, which might seem strange to many, but I really love it. When a woman player acts a male role, she needs to interpret the man through the eyes of a woman, whilst at the same time she needs to act like a man in terms of her body language. This makes the character mysterious, attractive and unique. When I'm portraying a role, the first thing I do is to find the most vulnerable part of the male character, the portrayal of which should most move and touch the audience. I have a mezzo-soprano voice, and I use certain vocal techniques, which are used for the male role in Peking opera, to make my voice more masculine.
CRI: In reference to ancient stories, the male role is fine for women since ancient men wore long dresses, but what about modern stories? Will the clothing of modern society constrain all-women Yueju opera to ancient stories?
Mao: I have to admit that an all-women cast has its limitations, and fits better to the performance of ancient stories. If we are to play contemporary stories, it is indeed very difficult, but it is not absolutely impossible. We have taken on the character of Kong Yiji, a figure form Luxun's novel which was set in the early 20th century, and we are attempting some plays set in the 1930s, when men were still wearing long dresses. And even in the most contemporary stories, we could design some settings which almost exclusively feature women, such as settings involving air hostesses and women prisoners, but this may force us to give up the male roles. Therefore, it is better for us to interpret old stories through the eyes of modern people. That's why we are trying to find some topics that could reflect the life around us now.
CRI: Considering the fact that theatre box office revenue is not generally very high, how does the troupe make a living?
Mao: If we can put on more than 100 performances a year, the government covers about 50 percent to 60 percent of our performance costs, whilst we have to cover the remainder. Sometimes, the government will invest further money for the creation of a new play.
But this system is going to change. In the future, if the local government finds that a certain play is good, it could purchase the play and send it to other provinces and countries for further performances. If we can get approval from the provincial government, we hope to develop the Xiaobaihua opera troupe into a joint-stock company, which would allow for the participation of private capital. Presently, we have a directorate, whose duties include the right to choose a manager, but most troupe directors are like me, in that they were previously players and lack professional managing knowledge.
CRI: What changes have been brought to Yueju opera?
Mao: We are making changes to the stylized movements that can be found in traditional art forms. In traditional folk operas, the actions of weeping and becoming angry are all expressed by the movement of fans and long sleeves, which young people don't understand. We are therefore trying to make changes so that even those who don't understand these movements can understand what we wish to suggest. What's more, we are introducing modern dance into our opera.
CRI: Will such changes affect the purity of Yueju opera?
Mao: What we are doing does not throw away the old traditions of Yueju opera, as the Zhejiang dialect is still there, the women players are still there and the style of our opera remains poetic, esthetical and graceful. As long as these characteristics are there, yueju opera remains yueju opera.
In the early 1990s there was a play named the "Romance of the West Chamber." In that play, there was an action which involved the kicking away of boots, which I learned from Chuangju opera in Sichuan province. But it aroused great dispute, and some said that this action would change Yueju opera into Chuanju opera. Thankfully the play received the support of both experts and audiences, who believed that this enriched the performance of Yueju opera, and that the performance was still essentially Yueju opera in its style. Based on the basic essential elements of Yueju opera, our director and players are making full use of modern techniques; we are not going against our ancestors, but are taking the opera's essence and developing it further.
CRI: How long can you personally continue to perform on stage?
Mao: I hope to leave audiences with an impression that the male roles I act on stage are young and attractive. For theatre players, the stage life can last about 30 years, and for me, especially as I'm acting the role of young men whose ages are from 18 to 30, I have to face the fact that my figure is changing with age. As I said before, I will bid farewell to the stage when I'm no longer a handsome man on stage.
CRI: The Yueju opera originated from rural areas, but now it is developing in a different environment.. What are your ideas about the future development of Yueju opera?
Mao: We are developing this art form towards other theatre based art like western opera, musicals and modern drama. I've been doing this job for 25 years, and Yueju opera has developed for 100 years. I always hold on to the dream, that the opera could become a metropolitan theatre art and we could bring the opera to Broadway.
Japan has an opera troupe, Takarazuka, which is also composed of women players who act the male roles; the first half of their play is a western opera, which usually tells a sentimental story about love, family ethics and morality, and very much resembles our own opera. However, in the latter part of their play, they perform a modern version of kabuki (traditional form of Japanese theatre). Japan is a developed country, and the opera troupe has developed so well, so I think that as society and civilization further develops, Yuejue find itself irreplaceable in its position as a poetic and esthetical art form.
(CRI September 22, 2004)
