In the past few days in China, I saw some older veteran actors and actresses perform two performances of Yueju Opera; the first one, and the other one was in Yueju Opera Town, which is located in Shi Jiaao Village, Ganlin Town, Shengzhou City, Zhejiang Province, the birthplace of Chinese women’s Yueju Opera, and occupies an area of 3.68 square kilometers, making it China’s first cultural tourism town named after a drama genre. It is the first cultural tourism town in China named after a theatre genre.
They all performed the same piece, “Dajinzhi – Challenging the Palace.” “Dajinzhi – Challenging the Palace” is a trendy Yue opera piece that tells a story rich in legend. The play is renowned for its vivid character portrayals, dramatic plotlines, and exquisite performances. The story revolves around a woman who intrudes into the palace, attempting to fight for her rights and justice. Her courage, resilience, and determination to confront authority make her a hero in the audience’s eyes. In this play, the performers’ singing is deeply emotive and compelling. Through melodious and engaging singing and vivid acting, they vividly present the passion, struggles, and emotional complexities within the story. Particularly, the portrayal of the main character is brave yet charismatic, leaving a strong impression on the audience.
In Yue opera, the main instruments include percussion: clappers, wooden clappers, large and small gongs, and cymbals. String instruments: erhu, zhonghu, sanxian, pipa, liuqin, and yangqin. Wind instruments: flute, xiao (vertical bamboo flute), and dizi (transverse bamboo flute). Brass instruments: suona (Chinese double-reed horn). With the innovative development of opera music, starting from the 1950s, many classical instruments were added to the commonly used instruments, such as sheng (Chinese mouth organ), zheng (zither), and various Western instruments, especially violin, cello, bass, suspended cymbals, flute, clarinet, etc. These additions greatly enriched the expressive capabilities of Yue opera music.