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“The Peony Pavilion,” a Chinese Kun opera that will be performed at Royce Hall over t
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 — 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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