(no subject)
Even though The Butterfly Lovers is usually considered the great love story of China, and noted for its unmistakable homoerotic subtext, I have always find its various incarnations on stage and screen less than compelling. Its most popular form is perhaps the Yueju Opera version, where both of the lovers are played by women. One would expect the opera to be full of many delicate layers subtext but the traditional performance is the most wholesome thing possible -- Liang Shanpo and Zhang Yingtai might as well be any pair of bonny country lad and lass who face disapproval of the family. I have often wondered why. Is it because of the limitations of a traditional art form? But the traditional scholars are masters of subtext, and the traditional operas are no stranger to these topics. Is it because of Yueju's lowly origins as a street performance in the country villages? The Butterfly Lovers's script is not written in elegant verse by a playwright, like the Tale of Western Chamber or Peony Pavilion, but put together by singers with little formal education, and consist of mostly charming ditties in a colloquial style. Or is it something that generally plagues all female performance art forms, including Takarazuku Revue?
Now Mao Weitao has a new production of LiangZhu. She calls it a return to tradition after many years of experimentation, and on the surface it is true. There is no major revision to the script: she tossed away the original idea of having Liang Shangpo die because he finds out that Zhu Yingtai is a girl and not the man he loved. There are only the addition of a few sings and a couple scenes at the school to flesh out the old story, and a gloriously romanticized setting that seems inspired by traditional lace iron work. But the result is in fact quite a departure from the tradition. The ravishingly beautiful setting lifts the story out of its village roots, and places it firmly in the realm of legends. And against the new setting the many layers of the love story slowly unfold, no longer obscured by the traditional boundaries. There is a lovely scene, where Liang Shanpo and Zhu Yingtai first meet at a bridge. Zhu Yingtai sings, "I see a figure in white, elegant as a jade tree in the wind". Liang Shanpo looks down at Zhu Yingtai, and suddenly it is as if I'm watching the romance unfold with completely new eyes.
If you can use baidu, the entire opera can be seen here. This is probably faster. The order of the scenes are
英台思读
草桥结拜
高山流水
十八相送
英台托媒
思祝下山之思祝
思祝下山之下山
楼台会
山伯之死
英台祷墓
化蝶
Otherwise it's available on tudou. Scroll down, and start with １新梁祝英台出门, and work your way down the list.
For those interested here's a more traditional version as a comparison
Now Mao Weitao has a new production of LiangZhu. She calls it a return to tradition after many years of experimentation, and on the surface it is true. There is no major revision to the script: she tossed away the original idea of having Liang Shangpo die because he finds out that Zhu Yingtai is a girl and not the man he loved. There are only the addition of a few sings and a couple scenes at the school to flesh out the old story, and a gloriously romanticized setting that seems inspired by traditional lace iron work. But the result is in fact quite a departure from the tradition. The ravishingly beautiful setting lifts the story out of its village roots, and places it firmly in the realm of legends. And against the new setting the many layers of the love story slowly unfold, no longer obscured by the traditional boundaries. There is a lovely scene, where Liang Shanpo and Zhu Yingtai first meet at a bridge. Zhu Yingtai sings, "I see a figure in white, elegant as a jade tree in the wind". Liang Shanpo looks down at Zhu Yingtai, and suddenly it is as if I'm watching the romance unfold with completely new eyes.
If you can use baidu, the entire opera can be seen here. This is probably faster. The order of the scenes are
英台思读
草桥结拜
高山流水
十八相送
英台托媒
思祝下山之思祝
思祝下山之下山
楼台会
山伯之死
英台祷墓
化蝶
Otherwise it's available on tudou. Scroll down, and start with １新梁祝英台出门, and work your way down the list.
For those interested here's a more traditional version as a comparison