Bringing old art form to new viewers Acclaimed performers, Gu Haohao and Zhang Jun are leading the revival of Kunqu Opera through different paths. Fang Aiqing reports.
More than 30 years have passed since they first met as students of Kunqu Opera. And Gu Haohao and Zhang Jun, both in their 40s, are now leading the revival of the old Chinese art form through different paths.
Kunqu Opera, one of the traditional Chinese opera forms that has a history of more than 600 years, is growing again in popularity in recent years through the efforts of performers like Gu and Zhang.
Gu, director of the Stateowned Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe and Zhang, director of a private troupe named after him, are using innovative means to promote the opera.
As Gu sees it, she and Zhang share the same goal, but do it in different ways.
“What Zhang does is to arouse curiosity in those who have never heard about it, and what we do is to show them the traditional beauty of the form,” says Gu.
Diverse repertoire
With three generations of performers trained over 60 years by the best opera schools in China, the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe stands out.
The run of The Palace of Eternal Life, a classic Kunqu Opera adapted from the romance between Tang Dynasty (618-907) Emperor Xuanzong and his concubine Yang Yuhuan, at the Shanghai Grand Theater from Sept 21 to 24, saw four different groups of leading actors, respectively, performing each night.
Among them were Cai Zhengren, 77, and Zhang Jingxian, 71, who are seen as national treasures, while the youngest lead actor was Wei Li, 26.
Since 2015, the troupe has followed a system where middle-aged and younger actors learn 100 classic excerpts and six integral ones from seniors over three years.
This emphasis on training means the troupe has the capacity to stage massive productions like The Palace of Eternal Life, which requires dozens of performers.
As for Zhang, who has a total of eight performers and crew in his troupe, he follows another direction.
During a concert in a private villa in Shanghai on Sept 23, Zhang showcased Kunplug, which he says is “bringing together Kunqu Opera and contemporary music elements like electronic music, rock ’n’ roll, rap and jazz”.
Though some see this as controversial, Zhang’s adaptations are being increasingly accepted with invitations for performances pouring in.
This has prompted him to plan a concert for more than 10,000 people next year.
Eight years ago, his aim to have “a more personalized development and do something different” prompted Zhang to leave the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, where he had been for 15 years.
He then launched a private troupe that made its debut in collaboration with the famous composer and conductor, Tan Dun.
The troupe’s first work was an adapted version of the classic play, The Peony Pavilion, staged in a traditional Chinese garden in Shanghai in 2010.
Closer to audience
Since 1998, Gu and Zhang have both been actively promoting Kunqu Opera among the younger generations, especially students.
After 20 years of work they are encouraged by the response.
During this year’s May Day holiday, some performers from the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe went to Tianzifang, one of Shanghai’s most visited spots, showing people how to put on makeup, performing excerpts from plays and interacting with people.
They also went to the Bund, shopping malls and communities to promote the opera form.
The idea came from Gu’s personal experience of advertising her plays in subways, tour spots and where people assembled in 2004, when Kunqu Opera was not very popular.
On the other hand, Zhang promotes his work with a monthly crowdfunding program called 1+1+1 Action, which combines lectures, gatherings and performances.
At the events, audiences sip traditional Chinese rice wine and listen to Zhang speaking about Kunqu Opera and then enjoy his performance.
The tickets for the event are sold in sets of three.
So, to attend the program, one has to take along two companions.
“Thus, it’s not simply a ticket-buying process, but also about disseminating the culture of Kunqu Opera and influencing others,” says Zhang, whose ultimate intention is to turn his personal efforts into a social movement.
The 66 sets of tickets for the first program in September were sold out in 14 days and the show was also live streamed.
Speaking about the opera form, Chen Yani, 25, a fan of Kunqu Opera who has enjoyed more than 60 Kunqu Opera performances in theaters in the past five years, says: “Compared with other traditional opera forms, Kunqu Opera attracts more young audiences.”
For Gu and Zhang, the campus is the key to promote the opera form.
Supported by the local government, the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe gives at least 130 performances every year at schools in Shanghai.
And, according to Zhang, he will launch an experimental course on Kunqu Opera for students of second grade in a Shanghai primary school in November.
In recent years, the Chinese have been more willing to step into theaters and enjoy Kunqu Opera.
The Shanghai show of The Palace of Eternal Life in September saw box-office revenue of 1.5 million yuan ($226,000). It was five times the box-office revenue from the same show that spanned four nights at the same place seven years earlier.
Going global
Kunqu Opera is not only seeing revival in China, but also gaining ground globally.
Prior to the Shanghai show of The Palace of Eternal Life, the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe staged The Tale of the White Serpent of Leifeng Pagoda, another traditional play and some other classics at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens, Greece.
The 6,000 tickets for the three-day performances of the first foreign opera show at the newly opened theater were sold out three months in advance.
In November, Zhang’s I, Hamlet, a contemporary Kunqu Opera play adapted from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, will be staged in South Korea, while next year there will be tours to Europe and the United States.
The play, produced in 2016 to mark the 400th anniversary of the deaths of Shakespeare and Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) playwright Tang Xianzu, offers a Chinese interpretation of life and death.
Meanwhile, besides the massive productions of traditional Chinese plays, experimental pieces of Kunqu Opera have also made their way globally.
Chair, adapted from the absurdist play The Chairs by French playwright Eugene Ionesco, has just been staged twice by the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe in Albania. Previously, it has been performed in Russia and Japan.
According to Gu, the play is to tailor the opera form for a global stage.
“Western audiences are very familiar with the story. They are just curious about how we present it as well as our makeup and costumes.”
The leading actress in Chair, Shen Yili, takes active part in producing the play, contributing her understanding of the story.
“Today, experimental pieces like Chair have more possibilities. I’m confident that Kunqu Opera can be presented well in this form,” says Gu.
Looking ahead
According to the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, the annual number of performances has risen from 112 in 2013 to 272 in 2016, with the income of performances soaring from 3.31 million yuan in 2014 to 8.25 million yuan in 2016.
“We are now in a better place,” says Gu, whose team plans to make full use of the current opportunities, reflected in their packed performance schedules.
For Zhang, who runs a private troupe, the first goal of surviving has been achieved. “We are now running in a healthy way. We can support ourselves with our performances. It is not easy for private troupes.”
Zhang played Emperor Xuanzong, one of the protagonists, in the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe’s first performance of The Palace of Eternal Life in Shanghai in September.
It was the first time that he had returned to the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe where he started his career as a professional performer.
So, no matter what route they take, Gu and Zhang will remain committed to Kunqu Opera, declared as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2001.
Experimental pieces ... have more possibilities. I’m confident that Kunqu Opera can be presented well in this form.” Gu Haohao, director, Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe