Peking Opera meets shadow puppetry
CCTV.com08-12-2015 18:07 BJT
“The Execution of the Judge of Hell,” a traditional ghost
story of revenge and retribution told with shadow puppets and Peking
Opera, came to the Beijing's People's Art Theater Tuesday evening.
Can You Liugui, the lamplighter of hell and privy to what really happened, right the wrong?
This is the premise of a traditional ghost-story called "Zha Panguan". But what is truly innovative about this staging is its portrayal of the world of the living through shadow puppets - placing it in a surreal dimension—while the world of the dead, inhabited by Peking-Opera artists—becomes all the more palpable and grim.
Chen Xiaoyan plays Baogong, the almighty judge who descends to hell to re-investigate the case. She is tasked not only with playing someone of opposite gender but also interacting with the shadow puppets on the "living" side.
"We had to figure out how to talk not just to the other Peking-Opera actors on stage, but also the shadow puppets, and to synchronize our movements with those puppets," she said.
“The Execution of the Judge of Hell,” directed by Sarah Oppenheim in collaboration with the Han Feizi Drama Company, first premiered in 2009 at the Croisement Festival. Since then it has toured in France, South Korea and Poland.
What makes this Peking Opera so refreshing is that it brings together two very traditional Chinese art forms, that were never juxtaposed side-by-side into one play, and renders it through the lens of Western theatrical stage direction.
Oppenheim had studied Chinese ghost stories, but it was her meeting with Han Chi, managing director of the Han Feizi Drama Club, that brought the play into being.
"Sarah first came to me through my mentor, because she wanted to learn shadow puppetry. There are many shadow puppet companies in China, but they're all on the fringe and subsidized by the state and are on the verge of extinction,” Han said.
“At the time, I was trying really hard to find ways to innovate. Then I learned that Sarah had studied theater and directing, so immediately we started collaborating on this play."
That is when Han Chi brought in his father, Han Feizi, the playwright and founder of the drama club named after him. A former journalist, Feizi fell so in love with shadow puppetry during an assignment about it, that he not only quit his job to create a company of his own but also enlisted his entire family in the cause.
"We've had many times when we were on the edge of closing down. But I wondered why shadow puppetry, which is so under the radar in China, could be so well received internationally. I knew I had to give it something fresh, a new perspective, shining a new light on it, in this case literally," he said.
“The Execution of the Judge of Hell" is playing at the Beijing People’s Art Theater from August 11–13.
'The
Execution of the Judge of Hell' is a traditional ghost story of revenge
and retribution told with shadow puppets and Peking Opera!
Two lovers meet on the day of the Lantern Festival, but the girl is
kidnapped and murdered. Seeking justice, her ghost goes to the judge of
hell. But he sentences her lover because, unbeknownst to her, the judge
is the murderer's father.Can You Liugui, the lamplighter of hell and privy to what really happened, right the wrong?
This is the premise of a traditional ghost-story called "Zha Panguan". But what is truly innovative about this staging is its portrayal of the world of the living through shadow puppets - placing it in a surreal dimension—while the world of the dead, inhabited by Peking-Opera artists—becomes all the more palpable and grim.
Chen Xiaoyan plays Baogong, the almighty judge who descends to hell to re-investigate the case. She is tasked not only with playing someone of opposite gender but also interacting with the shadow puppets on the "living" side.
"We had to figure out how to talk not just to the other Peking-Opera actors on stage, but also the shadow puppets, and to synchronize our movements with those puppets," she said.
“The Execution of the Judge of Hell,” directed by Sarah Oppenheim in collaboration with the Han Feizi Drama Company, first premiered in 2009 at the Croisement Festival. Since then it has toured in France, South Korea and Poland.
'The
Execution of the Judge of Hell' - directed by Sarah Oppenheim in
collaboration with the Han Feizi Drama Company - first premiered in 2009
at the Croisement Festival. Since then it has toured in France, South
Korea and Poland.
What makes this Peking Opera so refreshing is that it brings together two very traditional Chinese art forms, that were never juxtaposed side-by-side into one play, and renders it through the lens of Western theatrical stage direction.
Oppenheim had studied Chinese ghost stories, but it was her meeting with Han Chi, managing director of the Han Feizi Drama Club, that brought the play into being.
"Sarah first came to me through my mentor, because she wanted to learn shadow puppetry. There are many shadow puppet companies in China, but they're all on the fringe and subsidized by the state and are on the verge of extinction,” Han said.
“At the time, I was trying really hard to find ways to innovate. Then I learned that Sarah had studied theater and directing, so immediately we started collaborating on this play."
That is when Han Chi brought in his father, Han Feizi, the playwright and founder of the drama club named after him. A former journalist, Feizi fell so in love with shadow puppetry during an assignment about it, that he not only quit his job to create a company of his own but also enlisted his entire family in the cause.
"We've had many times when we were on the edge of closing down. But I wondered why shadow puppetry, which is so under the radar in China, could be so well received internationally. I knew I had to give it something fresh, a new perspective, shining a new light on it, in this case literally," he said.
“The Execution of the Judge of Hell" is playing at the Beijing People’s Art Theater from August 11–13.
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