An ancient romance reborn

With elaborate Chinese costumes and intricate hairstyles adorned
with beads soaked in color and faces painted to perfection, the
artists about to perform could easily be mistaken for life-size
ceramic dolls.

But the singers, actors and dancers on stage are actually part
of “The Peony Pavilion,” a love story hailing from the
East that could give Romeo and Juliet a run for its money.

Tonight, UCLA Live brings “The Peony Pavilion” to
Royce Hall. With support from the UCLA Center for Chinese Studies
and the UCLA International Institute, the opera is the kick-off
event for UCLA Live’s fifth International Theatre
Festival.

“Peony Pavilion” is a story performed in Chinese Kun
opera style by the Suzhou Kun Opera Theatre of the Jiangsu province
in China. Kun opera is a 500-year-old style emphasizing colorful
costuming and make-up as well as the performers’ graceful
movements, rather than an extensive stage setup.

Written and produced by UC Santa Barbara Professor Emeritus
Kenneth Pai and directed by Wang Shiyu, this abridged version of
the classic story will be presented in three parts over three
nights.

Book I, “The Dream of Love,” premieres at 8 p.m.
tonight, and Book II, “Romance and Resurrection,” will
be performed Saturday night. The event will culminate with Book
III, “Reunion and Triumph,” on Sunday, Oct. 1.

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The opera, travelling among the campuses, was well-received by
the American audience in a sold-out event of 2,000 seats during its
premiere at UC Berkeley in mid-September.

“The response was overwhelming,” said Kenneth Pai,
writer and producer of the show. “For those interested in
Chinese culture, it’s a very good start to study this Chinese
classic. It’s a beautiful, romantic story and a significant
social exchange as well.”

The opera is a romance that revolves around Du Liniang, the
daughter of a Chinese official, and Liu Mengmei, an impoverished
scholar “”mdash; both of whom only know each other from dreams and
portraits, yet find their way to one other through the power of
love and yearning.

“”˜Peony Pavilion’ is China’s single most
prominent treatment of the interrelated themes of love and
death,” said David Schaberg, associate professor and chair of
East Asian studies interdepartmental programs.

“Du Liniang and her lover Li Mengmei are China’s
answer to Orpheus and Eurydice, Tristan and Isolde and Romeo and
Juliet.”

Originating from the Jiangsu province, “Peony
Pavilion” is traditionally presented in over 20 hours in 55
acts. The story was derived from the epic written by Tang Xianzu of
the Ming Dynasty and is likened to Shakespeare’s “Romeo
and Juliet” in its celebration of love and the overcoming of
rigid conventions that were prevalent at the time.

“It is about the sexual awakening of a teenage girl and
her passionate search of ideal love,” Pai said. “It is
also about a rebellion against the orthodoxy, and the social and
moral constraints at the time.”

With a plotline that addresses heavy issues such as death,
parental approval, gender roles and socioeconomic status, one would
think that there is nothing anyone can do to make this opera more
complicated.

Yet Pai manages to defy the norm as he recreates the story in 27
scenes over nine hours of performance, and casts young actors in
roles that were traditionally reserved for older, more mature
ones.

Pai’s innovations only help him in his goal to contribute
to the revival of Kun and make this story and the art form of
Chinese opera more accessible to today’s viewers.

Pai aims to attract a new generation of actors and students who
will continue to perform and celebrate the refined qualities of
Chinese Kun opera in music, dance and drama.

Cynthia Lu, a fourth-year economics and East Asian studies
student who grew up in China watching traditional operas and
reading classic cultural literature, looks forward to viewing Kun
opera on a different soil.

“It’s very exciting to bring this classic Chinese
love story to mainstream America to let people know more about
ancient Chinese life and the form of the Chinese opera. It is a
precious opportunity to see classical Chinese stories performed
here,” she said.

Schaberg also stresses the unique opportunity to learn about
Chinese culture and history.

“This is about as good an introduction as one can get to
traditional Chinese culture and to the ways that the contemporary
Chinese are restoring and preserving their past,” Schaberg
said. “”˜Peony Pavilion’ is a stunning love story,
with reflections on love written into its scenes, songs and
gestures. What better way to begin the year than by relearning some
old truths about young love?”

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