Modern Peking Opera in Taiwan “The Pipa Tune”

Troupe：Taiwan Jingju and Kunqu Opera Troupe

Time：2017/11/25(SAT)14:00

Place：Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center 3102 Multi Hall

With the invitation of my friend who is a fan of traditional Chinese performance, I could have this opportunity to enjoy the modern peking opera at Taiwan Traditional Theatre Center. It was an interesting experience to see how the new-generation artists to show their artworks with the traditional topic. Therefore, I wrote this review of the drama to record what I have experienced during the performance. 

Just like every drama in the world, there is no doubt that the most important part in the peking opera is to see how the performers express their characters. In this performance, “The Pipa Tune”, the actress undergoes three different stages in her life. Therefore, it would be very challenging for a director to connect these different periods, meanwhile, the actress also needs to sing with pekingaccent. Surprisingly, the actress of this drama did very well performance. The most impressive scenario is that she used her long sleeves to dance. Her long sleeves can make so many different forms to express her feeling without speaking even a word. It is not hard to find that the actress has already had enough experience and training to finish this heavy workload. 

However, there are some suggestions which could be improved to make this drama to be much better. Compared to the performances in Europe, it is clear that “The PipaTune” is lack of using lighting properly. There is no doubt lighting effect plays an important role in opera. For example, there are some scenarios where the light did not project well on those character’s face. Hence, it was difficult for audiences to see clearly what performers act on the stage, especially when the chamber was nearly dark. I reckon that the reason could be traced back to its tradition. Usually, the peking opera has its performance on outdoor. So when the modern peking opera brings the performances into the Theatre, it might need time to make its own adjustment. Also, there was one scenario describing the general fought against his enemies on the war, which could be much better if the stage becomes bigger in the future. Last point is that they used the blue light to give an implication that the character is already dead, which would be very difficult for a foreigner to understand except giving any subtitles.

To sum up, it was still a good experience to see the performance of “The Pipa Tune”. The talented new-generation playwright, Yang Ju-Chiang, got his inspiration from the ancient poet, Bai Ju-Yi, to finish this modern peking opera script. Currently, there are not too many new-generation playwrights who are fond of using ancient classics as elements. As a consequence, from the viewpoint of a traditional culture lover, we should really make more opportunities to encourage these new-generation art-workers.