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Yangtze Repertory Theatre of America presents
WHERE AND WHEN:
Joanna Chan, Artistic Director of Yangtze Repertory Theater of America, has adapted "The Chalk Circle" by Li QianFu into a multilingual play with arias in the style of Cantonese Opera. This 13th century Yuan dynasty Chinese classical Zaju verse story is primarily known in the West as the inspiration of Brecht's "Caucasian Chalk Circle." It recounts a celebrated court case of Judge Bao of the Song Dynasty, a magistrate who stood above the corruption of his time and is still revered throughout the Chinese speaking world for his wisdom and fairmindedness. Yangtze Repertory Theater of America will present the world premiere of the adaptation, directed by Chan, May 3 to 20 at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, NYC. The production will star Mr. Denver Chiu (of Hong Kong) in the female role of the heroine, performing her arias in Cantonese Opera style. He is credited with having single-handedly revived the art form of men playing female roles in Cantonese Opera, which has been absent from the world stage for over 60 years. The arias have lyrics and choreography by Chen ShaoMei (of GuangZhou, China). The play will be performed in English, Mandarin and Cantonese with Chinese and English supertitles.
"The Chalk Circle" is the saga of a beautiful girl named Begonia Zhang, who is sold into a house of prostitution by her impoverished family after her father's death. There she is befriended by Official Ma, a wealthy and childless tax collector, who takes her into his house as his concubine. She bears him a son, Shou Lang, but earns the jealousy of his wife, Mistress Ma. Aiming to remove Begonia as a threat of inheriting the Ma Family’s fortune, she accuses Begonia of adultery and poisons Official Ma. She then blames Begonia for the crime and claims to a court that Shou Lang is her own child. As Begonia is about to be executed, she is rescued by Judge Bao, who discovers Mistress Ma's deception with a wisdom worthy of King Solomon. The overall style of the play is earthy, which is characteristic of the stage of the Yuan Dynasty. Even with its tragic central story, there is still slapstick as well as mime and acrobatics. The setting is basically a bare stage. These elements are typical of stage creations from different regions in China, which are loosely known as Chinese opera. There are six leads and an ensemble of eight. The heroine's arias are the only sung portions in the original play. There are no surviving records of how they were originally performed 800 years ago. Using standard Cantonese opera repertoire, Chen ShaoMai transcribed the ancient lyrics into colloquial Cantonese for the production. She has been a Cantonese Opera actress since 1957 specializing in the Warrior Heroine part and has been a director and choreographer in her later career.
Denver Chiu has come to New York from Hong Kong to perform the woman's role of Begonia Zhang. He learned this art form in Canton and has acted these female roles since 2005. He was a principal actor in Hong Kong Repertory while Joanna Chan was Artistic Director in the 1980s and founded his own Cantonese Opera company, Tiida Cantonese Opera Company, in Hong Kong in 2010. Between 2006 and 2008, he recorded five CDs, of which three were Cantonese Opera DVDs. The art of men playing women's' roles was made famous by Mei Lan Feng in the 1930s but has been absent from the world stage since World War II. Judge Bao will be played by Bill Angst, a towering caucasian actor who was born in Xian, China and grew up in Beijing. The cast also includes Shang-Ho Huang, Shu-Mei Kwan, Sajeev Pillai, Al Parrick Jo with Hugh Cha, Mayu Iwasaki, Lao Shi-Yan, Phillip Lung, Hannah Scott, Karen Stefano, Kevin Taejin, and Viet Vo. Set is by K.K. Wong, who collaborated with Joanna Chan at Hong Kong Rep in the 80's. Lighting design is by Joyce Liao. Choreography is by David Shen. In addition to the accompaniment to the Cantonese arias by musicians in China, an original score is created by Su Sheng. Cantonese Opera is not as well known in the West as the closely related Beijing opera, but is still a vibrant art form wherever Cantonese speakers live. Based in southern China and overseas ethnic Chinese communities, it is a very formalized operatic form that combines singing, mime, gymnastic and martial arts skills. It predominates in Guangdong (formerly called Canton), Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, and in Chinese-influenced areas in western countries. As in operas of many other regions in China, it employs elaborate makeup with different shades of color and shapes indicating the social standing, mental state, trustworthiness, and physical health of the characters. This production is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York Legislature. It is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council. CHINESE PRESS: NEWS ON OUR PRODUCTION
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