The Story Of Zhu Maichen And His Wife In The Stage Of Kunqu Opera

It is now very difficult, if not impossible, to perceive how the za-ju opera of Yuan dynasty, the chuan-qi opera and the"highlighted act"plays of Ming and Qing dynasties were presented on stage. Nevertheless, by studying the scripts (especially those written for stage performance and not only for desk-top reading) and paying attention to the concerned aspects in them, we could still get a basic understanding. Such an approach would somewhat revert the long-standing orientation in the study of Chinese opera which has been dominated by text study. Nowadays, as performance can be recorded with audio-visual equipments, the materials thus compiled are very useful in furthering the study. The present thesis is a research along this orientation. The kunqu piece"Zhu Maichen divorcing his wife"is chosen as the theme of investigation. Several scripts of the piece, namely"The Story of Fishermen and Woodcutters","The Story of Back-carrying Wood"in Yuan za-ju,"The Lan Ke Hill"in Ming chuan-qi and several Ming and Qing"highlighted act"scripts of the same play are identified and analysed so as to enquire into the changing conceptions in writing these scripts as well as into the concerned stage performance. Then, the study focuses on two contemporary adaptations of the piece,"The Lan Ke Hill"by Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe and"Zhu Maichen Divorcing his Wife"by Jiangsu Province Kunqu Opera House. Their scenarios and presentations on stage through audio-visual records are accordingly examined. Interviews with concerned playwrights and actors are also conducted. The objective is twofold, to enquire into the traditional stage aesthetics of kunqu opera and to explore the strategy of producing kunqu operas for the modern audience.In the history of Chinese opera, there are two kinds of script writing, each serving a different purpose: one for desk-top reading and the other for stage presentation. In comparing"The Story of Fishermen and Woodcutters"and"The Story of Back-carrying Wood", it is found that the latter, written in a later period, is conceived more from the angle of stage presentation. Although many more Ming chuan-qi scripts were written for desk-top reading purpose, their format nonetheless shows that they have taken into consideration the conditions pertaining to stage performance, thus putting them in rather sharp contrast with the Yuan za-ju. Therefore, by studying the scripts of Ming chuan-qi, it is possible to obtain a basic understanding of the early stage aesthetics of kunju opera. It can also shed light on how various aspects in the performance evolve through time. This thesis further claims that the keeping or abandoning of the acts in a play were quite often a result of the effect in stage presentation. By examining an existent manuscript, the Ming chuan-qi"Lan Ke Hill", a copy made during the Kang–xi era in Qing dynasty, which is the only such complete version we can find to-day, the following two facts can be ascertained. (1) There are plots and role-characters that do not appear in later adaptations. (2) There are acts having not been transformed into"high-lighted act"plays for stage. These two facts might reflect the concerned artists'tactics of adapting the script into stage performance and are thus worthy of more profound study. Such a study will be of great reference value to those who wish to inherit the art and adopt it to the contemporary stage. On the other hand, as it has become quite well known, the"highlighted act"plays were the acts that were"highlighted"mainly for the purpose of improving and specializing certain roles'acting or performing skills on stage. The major concern was to show the splendid art in a more focused manner. Therefore, in the early twentieth century, when the artists of the"chuan"generation inherited, adopted and performed the"highlighted acts"of kunqu opora, although they had the merit of well preserving the tradition of the Chinese opera of placing the actors as the centre of the art, some shortcomings were nonetheless evident, in that the overall theme that the full story should carry and the character of the roles in the acts became blurred. The contemporary adaptations of Ming chuan-qi have to notice these shortcomings, although their scripts are mainly based on the"highlighted act"plays, they should also take into consideration factors relating to modern theatre.