There are 55 episodes of "The Peony Pavilion" in Guangzhou, and Hu Weilu, a female student from Guangzhou, plays the role of "Liu Mengmei"
How does a female opera singer catch the love of the audience?
From March 29th to 30th, Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe brought 55 complete works of "The Peony Pavilion" to the Guangzhou Grand Theater 2024 Women's Art Festival. With three huge performances of nearly eight hours over two days, it presented the essence of Tang Xianzu's original work and restored Kunqu Opera. Yayun opens up to the audience an exquisite artistic picture of "like flowers and beautiful families, like the passage of time".
The difference between this version of "The Peony Pavilion" and most versions is that "Liu Mengmei" is played by a female student, Hu Weilu. In an exclusive interview with Guangzhou Daily, Hu Weilu said that Liu Mengmei, the character written by Tang Xianzu, is from Guangzhou and she was happy to take Liu Mengmei "home". In the full version of "The Peony Pavilion", Liu Mengmei's image is three-dimensional and complete, and Hu Weilu, who has played Liu Mengmei for many years, "also took off that layer of her so-called safe clothes and started all over again." Regarding the explosion of the Yue Opera "New Dragon Inn" She said that "it is not surprising that the popularity of the opera has attracted people's attention to female students. It can help traditional operas be seen by more people and attract more people to enter the theater."
Text/Guangzhou Daily All-Media Reporter Zhang Suqin
performance scene
"Tang Xianzu" comes on stage, and "Ji Tang" reappears
So you are like this in "The Peony Pavilion"
On the evening of March 29, the original version of "The Peony Pavilion" was performed at the Guangzhou Grand Theater. The curtain opened, and the first play was "Target". Tang Xianzu, played by the play's deputy director Ni Guangjin, came on the stage and told the audience who the main characters were, what kind of story they would tell, and summarized the content of the play in four lines of poetry - "Du Liniang dreamed of writing a painting. Professor Chen told her to shoot the Pear Blossom Spear. Liu Xiucai secretly brought back a daughter. Du Pingzhang attacked the number one scholar."
This kind of opening allows the audience to immediately appreciate the rigorous and ingenious plot structure of the entire "Peony Pavilion" - in traditional plays, the beginning is to "spoiler" and provide a leading "guide".
Among the 21 plays in the previous book, the audience enjoyed the most frequently performed excerpts of "The Peony Pavilion", "The Boudoir School", "Dreams" and "Dream Search", and at the same time, they also saw a richer version of "The Peony Pavilion".
Luo Chenxue and Hu Weilu, the leading actors of the complete version of "The Peony Pavilion", won the 31st Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award and the 31st Shanghai Magnolia Drama and Performing Arts Award for the Leading Role respectively last year for their wonderful performances in the play. In addition, the presentation of other characters in the entire "Peony Pavilion" is also brilliant. For example, Taoist Sister Shi, under the interpretation of Sun Jinghua, has her own stage lifeline, which is very touching. The flower goddess played by Tan Xiao was even praised as "beautiful". This role completely broke the "harlequin" singing style, with a more handsome appearance than the "niche", and the body style also incorporated the shadow of the "huadan" - —a very unique presentation.
The full version of "The Peony Pavilion" not only shows the love story of Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei, but also allows the audience to see the broader dimension of Tang Xianzu's original work - "The Peony Pavilion" is a masterpiece of social philosophy and artistic aesthetics in the Ming Dynasty. The full version of "The Peony Pavilion" specially re-incorporates 20 plays that have rarely been performed in the past, laying out the social background and sublimating the characters' pursuit of the meaning of life.
It is particularly worth mentioning that Tang Xianzu included "Collection of Tang Dynasty" after each fold of "The Peony Pavilion". This was a way for literati at that time to show their superb literary literacy - I know so many Tang poems, and the four chapters of "Collection of Tang Dynasty" are I can comment on this play again in one sentence. The full version of "The Peony Pavilion" restores "The Collection of Tang", which is not only a complete interpretation of the spirit of the original work, but also a novel and unique stage style and artistic expression.
The entire version of "The Peony Pavilion" follows the traditional performance rhythm and vocal system of Kun Opera, but the overall structure of the stage is very clever. Every turn of the revolving stage brings a new scene, a new environment, and a new time, which symbolizes the eternal flow of time. , the characters move in and out smoothly on the rotating stage, and in conjunction with the music, it is very compact and complete.
The complete version of "The Peony Pavilion" consists of three performances, upper, middle and lower. Each performance is close to three hours without intermission, but it does not make people feel too long. The lyrics and music are even more beautiful, which intoxicated the audience.
"The sound is touching and exciting. The whole version of "The Peony Pavilion" made me have a sweet dream in the theater. I fully enjoyed the drama and left no regrets." "The melodious Shuimo tune, rich and delicate emotions, and thick The cultural connotation, the shocking expression that directly touches the heart, perfect!" "At the end of the play, Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei's worship of Tang Xianzu on the stage conveyed their tribute to the classics, which was meaningful." In three performances over two days, the audience watched the full version of "Peony" Pavilion" received rave reviews.
Why is the “little girl” so cute?
In addition to their looks, I also admire the precious qualities they perform.
The Yue opera "New Longmen Inn" has exploded into the entertainment industry. Since its premiere in March 2023, the theaters have been sold out. Chen Lijun, a new generation of Yue opera actor and female student, plays the role of Jia Ting, who has a handsome face and an upright demeanor. During the encore, she performed a single A video of him holding his partner Li Yunxiao and spinning around went viral, drawing attention to "little girls" and becoming a hot topic of discussion.
Yue Opera, Cantonese Opera, Huangmei Opera, Qinqiang Opera, Gezi Opera, Teochew Opera and other operas all have female students
"Nv Xiaosheng" in traditional opera refers to the niche profession of young men played by female actors. Many operas in our country, such as Yue Opera, Cantonese Opera, Huangmei Opera, Qinqiang Opera, Gezi Opera, Teochew Opera and other operas, have female students. However, with "girls" as the core feature and pillar industry, Yue Opera is the first choice. The person who triggered the popularity of the Yue opera "New Dragon Inn" this time is Mao Weitao, a Yue opera performing artist and winner of the "Plum Blossom Award". As a well-deserved pillar girl in the Yue opera world, she is known as "the number one female student in contemporary Yue opera".
During the development process of Yue Opera, it experienced a transition from male actors (male troupe) to female actors (female troupe). This change occurred around 1923 and was an important turning point in the art of Yue Opera. Female Yue Opera troupes later developed in Shanghai. As the social status of urban women improved, female audiences gradually became consumers of drama. It can be said that the Yue Opera female troupe, with its strong voice of the era of female self-liberation, has gained a foothold in Shanghai, where all the elites gather.
As a cross-gender performance, female students imitate men's words and deeds, and use women's psychology to create a series of stage images that are more charming than real men and more in line with women's ideal men. While I admire their looks, I also admire the precious qualities they perform: modesty, integrity, affection, courage, and loyalty. From the perspective of audience psychology, many viewers are addicted to the artistic world created by female students, seeking spiritual comfort and spiritual satisfaction from it. In the theater, the actresses interact with the audience and jointly complete the creation of an artistic dream.
Female students shine in many types of operas in our country.
In the Cantonese opera world, the most famous female actor is Yam Kin-fai (1913-1989). Ren Jianhui's niche appearance has no "powder air" at all. The characters she interprets - Zhou Shixian, Li Yi, Zhao Ruzhou... are delicate, gentle, clean, tough, and affectionate, making people admire them. At the time, women whose emotional needs were often ignored in daily life were compensated by the male protagonists on stage.
The Xian Fengming Troupe, formed by Yam Kin-fai and his partner Bai Xuexian in 1956, became a hit. The Chu Fengming Troupe, formed by recruiting students in 1963, was once the most influential female troupe in the history of Cantonese opera.
In Teochew opera, the female student is a very special character, who must have both male masculinity and female delicate emotions.
Lin Yanyun, who was born in 1979, has been deeply involved in the "female niche" industry for many years in the Teochew opera industry. She played the role of "Li Shangyin" in the Teochew opera "Li Shangyin". She used thick ink to describe the loyal love between Li Shangyin and Wang Yunyan, as well as the mental journey of Li Shangyin and his senior brother Ling Huxuan who eventually took two different paths due to their different values. Lin Yanyun won the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award for "Li Shangyin".
I hope that this generation of female students will find works with their own characteristics.
The difference between Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe's complete version of "The Peony Pavilion" and most versions is that "Liu Mengmei" is played by a female student. Hu Weilu, who plays Liu Mengmei, studied under the famous Kun Opera female niche performing artist Yue Meiti. Kun Opera master Cai Zhengren also specially explained the play to Hu Weilu and picked out the details. Everyone hopes to continue the aesthetic tradition of "female niche" in Kun Opera and not to discontinue it.
Back then, Hu Weilu's first play as a primary school student was "Qin Tiao" in "The Story of the Jade Hairpin". What impressed me particularly deeply was the look in Yue Meiti's eyes when she was teaching the play. "Pan Bizheng, played by Teacher Yue, is really a sunny boy with a graceful demeanor." There's a hint of naughtiness in his gracefulness, and he's full of affection in his humor. At that time, I thought, who wouldn't love such a scholar?"
In March 2021, the essence version of "The Peony Pavilion" created by the Kunqu Theater of Jiangsu Performing Arts Group will be performed in Guangzhou. Shi Xiaomei, who plays Liu Mengmei in the original version of "The Peony Pavilion", is a famous Kun Opera girl in China and the winner of the 5th Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award. She created the image of Liu Mengmei as a tree in the wind, handsome and unrestrained, and her singing voice is resounding. The clouds are clear and resonant.
Shi Xiaomei, like Yue Meiti, was born in the 1940s. Today, the baton for Kun Opera female students is in the hands of Hu Weilu and Weng Jiahui.
In Hu Weilu's view, women's aesthetics are now more diversified. In the past, they may have pursued more psychological projection, but now they are more confident, so female students can have more and richer expressions when performing roles. "I personally believe that individual differences sometimes transcend gender, and we need to find different breakthrough points in shaping characters based on our own characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses. I also hope that girls of our generation can find works that have our characteristics. ." Hu Weilu said.
Exclusive interview——
Kun Opera girl Hu Weilu: Get rid of Liu Mengmei’s “idol baggage”
"The little girl smells really good!" Many viewers said so after the performance in Guangzhou. The role of "Liu Mengmei" in the full version of "The Peony Pavilion" is played by the female student Hu Weilu. She won the Protagonist Award at the 31st Shanghai Magnolia Drama and Performing Arts Awards for this play, and ranked first. Before the performance, Hu Weilu, a school girl, accepted an exclusive interview with reporters from all media in Guangzhou Daily.
Liu Mengmei is not perfect, but she never misses the key moment
Since the premiere of "The Peony Pavilion" in 2022, more than 40 performances have been completed. Hu Weilu now goes back and thinks about the state of rehearsal at that time. It is actually a very beautiful and precious experience in life. At that stage, she was unwilling to take off that layer of her so-called safety clothing. Because I wasn’t very used to it at first, I was still struggling with “There’s a section here, how should I sing it best?” "In fact, in the entire version of "The Peony Pavilion", different aspects of the characters in different excerpts need to be expressed, and the entire character needs to have a completely new look. The director felt that my state was completely wrong, and he wanted to directly put all my self-confidence into Destroy it and start over. Therefore, it took a period of tempering in this process to get into the state."
In the entire version of "The Peony Pavilion", Liu Mengmei is a bold and colorful character, giving her a more three-dimensional and complete image. Hu Weilu said, "In fact, everyone's first impression of the Kun Opera boy is that he is elegant, bookish, handsome, gentle and comforting, and all the beautiful words for men are added to the Kun Opera boy. So I was still a little worried at the beginning. It seems that if I act like this, I will be less handsome and less perfect. It’s not the baggage of an idol, but I will feel a little bit like this - I will play Liu Mengmei like this, right?"
During the rehearsal of "The Peony Pavilion" this time, Hu Weilu re-read the original work and found that Liu Mengmei is a very ambitious young man. Sometimes he is narcissistic, a little sour, and self-deprecating. Sometimes he is optimistic and positive, and he can adapt to changes. But the most important thing is The most important thing is his infatuation for Du Liniang. In the full version of "The Peony Pavilion", many of Liu Mengmei's scenes are released, making this character more full, real and multi-faceted. "Throughout the performance, I felt that Liu Mengmei's character was very rich and diverse. He was not perfect, but at critical moments, his qualities came to the fore. He caught the love Du Liniang gave him, and he did not lose his temper, and he was very worth."
Playing the role of a junior student, the female junior student is more delicate and has advantages
At present, female students are attracting much attention. Chen Lijun in the Shaoxing opera "New Dragon Inn" has become popular, and Hu Weilu's image in the complete version of "The Peony Pavilion" is also deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. "Qingjun Xiuzhu, graceful as jade" is the outside world's evaluation of Hu Weilu's stage image. In the whole version of "The Peony Pavilion", Hu Weilu's live performance even in the narration part has extremely delicate emotional processing, and the lyrics part is even more lingering, which is intoxicating.
Regarding the phenomenon of "girls becoming famous", Hu Weilu said that she did not find it unexpected. "First of all, Yue Opera has such potential, and then Xiaobaihua Yue Opera Troupe has been doing some pioneering dramas, and its soil has been cultivated."
"As for the topic of female students, I think as long as it can drive our traditional opera to be seen by more people and attract more people to enter the theater, it will be a very good means to inherit and carry forward the opera." Hu Weilu said.
Hu Weilu said bluntly, "I am a female student, and my physical fitness may not be as good as that of the male students. The whole version of "The Peony Pavilion" is very large, and I need to overcome many difficulties. After my teacher retired from the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, I am now the only female student." , but the troupe still takes great care and nurtures me, a girl."
Currently, among the nine major Kun Opera troupes in the country, there are only two female students. The other one is Weng Jiahui from the Northern Kun Opera Theater. In Hu Weilu's view, there are some advantages for female students to play the role of a niche, "it may be more delicate." The greasiness of female students' interpretations will definitely be reduced, because in traditional dramas, whether it is a drama or a legend, especially These niches written in the legend may make people feel a little exaggerated, a bit narcissistic, and a bit sour, but if a female niche can grasp this kind of thing, it may be just right and make people feel comfortable." (Guangzhou Daily)