On the evening of the first day of my stay in Beijing, Lionel took us all (the entire tour group) to watch a “Kung Fu” show at the Red Theater right after a rather “tasteless” dinner (that is according to the opinion of one of the tour members which most likely reflect the sentiment of virtually everybody else). My first thought about the “Kung Fu” show was that of a Chinese martial arts exhibition but it turned out to be completely different. The so – called “Kung Fu” show was in actuality a “westernized” version of the “old” Peking opera (京劇). The use of the word Kung Fu (功夫) was just a marketing ploy to pique the interest of foreign tourists since most of us are just simply agog over Chinese martial arts. Anyway, Peking opera (or the modern word, Beijing opera) is actually an old Chinese opera theater invented some 400 years ago during the Ming dynasty (明朝). Before the advent of films and the television, the Peking opera was the single most popular entertainment medium for both the masses and the nobility including the imperial family. Its popularity still continues during the republican period (民國時代, ca 1911 – 1947) right before the Japanese invasion in 1939. At any rate, with the introduction of the movies and television, such “ancient” art form began to decline as people prefer much “colorful” entertainment media. It would have gone the way of the dinosaurs if weren’t for the recent “reinvention” of the medium. “Old” Peking operas is a play utilizing popular Chinese stories and legends such the “Monkey King or the Stories of the Travel to the West (西遊記)”, the “Romance of the Three Kingdom (三國演義)”, and others. Within the play, there is high pitch singing (similar to European operas), witty conversations (highly poetic in their sentence construction in some instance just like their European counterpart), drama (again similar to their Shakespearean cousins), and plenty of fighting scenes a.k.a. the “Kung Fu” part of the show (which our European counterpart lacks). Actually, the Kung Fu aspect of the Peking operas aren’t really Chinese martial arts fighting (ok, the Kung Fu fighting as the song goes) at all. Instead, it looks more like a choreographed “dance” or “acrobatic stunts” with actions (arm actions and legworks) that we all associate and identify as Chinese martial arts moves. In short, it is a dance that masquerade as true Kung Fu. The Kung Fu show that we saw that night was a true blue Peking opera in every aspect of it except that it comes with huge twists and major renovations that makes one rethink that whether or not that this show is an upgraded, “modernized” version of the Old Peking opera or simply an entirely new art form, one that is a successor to Peking opera’s illustrious past. The show we saw that night was titled, “The Legend of Ching I”. The story is about a boy who was send by his poverty stricken mother to the Shao Lin Temple(?) to become a monk and escape from poverty. The boy was very afraid and refuses to leave his mother’s side not until he became enthralled by the fighting prowess of monks displaying their Kung Fu. At which point, ching I resolved to become one of them. He became a monk and labored hard to become the best Kung Fu fighter. As time went on, Ching I grew up and became more enamored to Kung Fu to such an extent he became such an excellent practitioner of Kung Fu at a very young age. However, his very success waylaid him from the path of true enlightenment. He became arrogant and corrupt and drawn to temptation to such an extent his way in life. As such, the abbey of the temple refuses to give Ching I the permission to partake the “test” in order to become a true Kung Fu master. The “test” was actually physical combat with the best Kung Fu fighters of the temple. Disappointed, Ching I actually thought of giving up his quest until he discovered the true meaning of enlightenment (as in the Buddhist sense of enlightenment). He regain his composure and was soon allowed to take the “test”, which he manages to pass albeit all the hardship and challenge. After that, Ching I became a true master not only of martial arts but also of the spirit. He eventually succeeded the old abbey in latter’s role and had a young disciple himself. He uses his life story as a lesson for his young apprentice on matters of humility, patience, perseverance, and enlightenment. The story sounds familiar, right? Strangely, that’s the feeling I got after watching the play. The story seemed to resemble a lot like a popular Hollywood movie, Star Wars or to be more exact, the story strongly resembles much like the story of Anakin Skywalker a.k.a. Darth Vader. One could say that the Legend of Ching I is actually a 16th century Chinese version of the story of Anakin Skywalker. The only difference is that our hero, Ching I returned to the path of enlightenment while Anakin Skywalker was seduced by the Dark Side of the force and metamorphosize into Darth Vader. And this is actually one of the interesting innovations and twists that I am talking about, a “western” style plot. Another major change in this “deviant” art form is the language used. All throughout the more or less 2 hour play, the language used during conversations and narrations are in English! Not only that, it is in FLAWLESS English! The Chinese language are used sparingly and only during the singing part of the play. The use of English is actually not a surprise since this is again due to marketing reasons. I mean this play is meant for foreigners/tourists who couldn’t understand a word of Chinese (quite ironic because the majority of those in the theater that evening are either Hong Kong Chinese or Filipino Chinese; only a handful are actually westerners). What is surprising here is intention behind the use of the English language during the play. It meant that the producers of the show are planning to go “international” and become an international Chinese opera, not just merely your everyday, neighborhood Peking opera. As a matter of fact, according to the show introduction, the play had already stage outside of China on some occasions. Another “renovated” feature of this opera compared to the “old” Peking opera is in the use of the props. The “old” Peking opera doesn’t use much props if not any at all except for the costumes and the background (which is just a painted picture of the story’s setting). This modern incarnation however uses plenty of props as well as a clever manipulation of stage light to the extent one has a feeling that this is more of an extravagant Broadway musical rather than a “staid” Peking opera. Furthermore, there are some scenes in the play that display ballet dances and acrobatic moves reminiscences of the acrobat show that I’ve watched also in Beijing during my first trip some 1 ½ years back (see the blog article “Old” Beijing dated May 11,2006). So there it is. We have an art form that combines elements of the “old” Peking opera, European ballet, American Broadway musical, western plot devices and lots of Kung Fu. Despite that, make no mistake about the nature of this play. This is a Chinese play hands down because the theme and the philosophy behind the play are unequivocally Chinese. Themes like the Sino – Buddhist idea of futility of worldly life, and the meaningless of existence permeates throughout the play. Overall, I say the play is quite entertaining and good. I don’t know about how others specifically the westerners perceived the story however judging by the show’s longetivity, which according to the introduction is already on its 2600 + runs already since late 2006. I say the show must be quite popular among foreigners/tourists. Although, it could be argued that tourists are generally “forced” to watch the show because it is a “standard” part of the tour itineraries, I would dare say otherwise, that it’s popularity are genuine. My reasoning behind my observation has lot to do with recent “trends” in another entertainment medium, that of Hollywood movies. The recent trend among Hollywood movies, if one is perceptive enough is the “seeming” proliferation of Chinese elements in recent popular Hollywood movies. If you carefully look at Hollywood movies nowadays, you would notice the appearance of “Chinese” faces in the casts, the connection of events and things related to China as if the general sub – conscience are abound of it, and lastly, the subtle addition of Kung Fu in any fight scene. Now if such “trends” in movies are popular with western moviegoers, I don’t see any reason as to why a “westernize” Peking opera such as this one who is quite attune to western preferences and taste wouldn’t be popular at all. After everything that is said about this play, something kept nagging me until now. Have I witness an emergence of a new art form? Or I just merely witness an aberration of what looks like a new art form but which in fact is just a mangled westernized modernized 21st century upgrade of an old art form? Whatever it is, I had a sense that “this” art form would blossom further in the future.
No comments:
Post a Comment