CHINESE CLASSICAL THEATRE

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28099, 15 October 1956, Page 7

CHINESE CLASSICAL THEATRE

OPERAS, DANCING, AND FOLK MUSIC FINAL PROGRAMME IN CHRISTCHURCH The Anal programme of the Chinese Classical Theatre was presented at the Theatre Royal, Christchurch, on Saturday evening. It was made up of four Pekin operas, with dancing and folk music to vary the entertainment, and to illustrate other artistic forms. “The Drunken Beauty.’’ the first opera, was set in a palace garden. It tells a curious story of disappointed love: for in a fit of pique a neglected favourite comforts herself with frequent cups of wine. Her drunkenness was shown with a humour that may justly be called exquisite. Indeed her confusion is restrained within rether formal limits, and her faculties are not entirely clouded, for she can still drink at any angle from a wine-cup, without holding it in her hands. As seen on stage this was a surprising feat of slow movement and balance.

“Stealing the Magic Herb’’ brought back to opera the mythical enchantress, “The White Snake.’’ who apB eared in “The Waters Flood Chin fountain.’’ She was again in conflict with the ill-disposed monk who had bewitched her and her husband. In her search for a healing herb she met and overcame the deer and the crane fairies, and it was here, particularly in the flight of the bird, that the art of mime was cleverly exemplified. Portraying animals and birds seems to fascinate Chinese actors.

In spite of its odd title. “A Bully Reforms” was. for Europeans, the least interesting of the operas. With only two characters in the cast and little marked dramatic action, “A Bully Reforms” soon reduced itself to an unintelligible dialogue. Fortunately “In Yentang Mountain,” which followed, was perhaps the most exhilarating of all the operas seen here. The battle in the deep waters of the lake, for instance, was enacted with startling vividness, and the tumblers reached what must surely be the highest degree of skill ana organisation in their art. Two new dances as well made this Erogramme an outstanding one. “The irum Dance.” with its overpowering rhythm and free impulsive movements, was felt to belong not so much to China proper, as to the remote Eastern borders of Asiatic Russia, and the garments of the dancers sedmed to support this opinion. The ardour of the meh balanced the subtlety and artifice of the single girl dancer, and perhaps the key to understanding “The Drum Dance” lay in appreciating this contrast. “The Teapickers’ Dance” from Fukien, on the other hand, was inimitably Chinese. Artless and gently humorous, it shows the teapickers first at work and then in pursuit of a golden butterfly on their homeward path. Besides being truly graceful themselves, the young dancers gave to their interpretation the charm of an intimate, playful gaiety. Perhaps it is a special gift of the Chinese to express this simple lightheartedness in ballet form. —C.E.S.