WCSCOI Annual Performance
|
A Revival of Go Lan Bai Xi
Washa was the name for the tiled roofs that covered urban marketplaces and recreational areas. The word Washa was therefore used as a reference to common places where people went for recreation and entertainment during the Song Dynasty.
The size of a Washa could vary from place to place. The smallest Washa is made up of three to four Go Lan theaters and their surrounding marketplaces. Some big Washa could contain as many as a 20 to 50 theaters. Normally there were different shows going on simultaneously on different Go Lan stages in one Washa. Beside the main stage, there were other small entertainment, recreational facilities such as tea houses, wine shops, gambling facilities, brothels, peddlers, and miscellaneous acrobatic shows. The Washa environment resembled 42nd street and Broadway, and was very much like an ancient Chinese Las Vegas. On March 22nd and 23rd, Chu Shan Chinese Opera Institute will stage a collection of Song plays A Revival of Go Lan Bai Xi to bring the Chinese Song Dynasty Washa - Go Lan culture to the modern stage in Metro Washington DC area.
At the end of the play, all performers will line up at the exit of the theatre to see visitors out. The entire production will last for approximately two hours. 
The Washington Chu Shan Chinese Opera Institute's Executive Director Zhu Chu Shan, renowned Peking Opera playwright and director, originally from Shanghai, China, has invigorated the practice of the Chinese performing arts in the Washington, DC metro area over the past 17 years by establishing outstanding Chinese opera programs and excellent performance. Zhu Chu Shan and the Chu Shan Opera Institute have endeavored to produce a series of new works in recent years. In December 2007, new version of “Tale of the White Snake" was produced in New York to great acclaim; The collaborative work of “Mr. Butterfly” with the Philadelphia theater in January 2008 also garnered favorable review in American mainstream media. Mr. Butterfly tells a love story of Peking opera actor and a French diplomat during 1960s. Other works such as the "Elegance of Peking Opera" and "Monkey King" gained popularity in the past few years as well.
The upcoming performance of the collection of Song Washa - Go Lan has been planned for five years. This production is the result of Mr. Zhu’s extensive research on the theatrical arts of China’s Northern Song Dynasty for many years. Zhu has visited the University of Maryland, the University of Taiwan, Georgetown University, the Shanghai Chinese Opera Theatre, the Shanghai Conservatory, and Beijing Culture Art Publishing House while conducting his extensive study and research. The goal of this production is to introduce authentic Chinese medieval performing arts, recreating the content, stories, stage styles, as well as grand scale scenes in their original format for the America theatre public, in a way that seems to diminish the boundaries between performer and audience, offstage and onstage, actor and musician, and blurs the lines between the beginning and ending of a performance.
Zhu Chu Shan endeavors to present Chinese opera to new and diverse audiences, innovating and recreating the essence of Chinese theatrical arts to make them accessible and enjoyable to people of all backgrounds; to bridge Eastern and Western culture, and to promote, honor, and share with the American people the exquisite Chinese traditional arts through this production. Chu Shan Institute is honored to have invited a group of brilliant artists to participate in the program. Chinese opera artist, Shanghai Peking Opera Theater director Zhu Chu Shan, the playwright and director of the program will be the comedic host on stage. Performing artist Allen Zhou, director from Chinese-American Arts in New York will be co-hosting with Zhu Chu Shan on stage. The accomplished Chinese Opera performing artist Tong Xiao Ling will take leading role in the "The Drunken Empress”. Dramatic clown actor Shan Jing from Bei Jing Kun Qu Theatre, entertainer and performing artist Wang Jian Hua, and performing artist Wen Yu Hang from Bei Jing Kun Qu Theatre will jointly play the comedy show "Double Door Physician". Guo Su Ling, a Hebei Province Peking Theatre female warrior player will portray as a Lotus Monk. Tsung Mei Yu from Chinese Opera International Fushing Dramatic Arts Acdemy of Taiwai will take the role as King of Lan Ling. Performing artist Liu Qing Xian from Beijing Opera Theatre will perform “The Dancing Judge”. Dancing artist Ning Fang will play ancient dance piece "Imitation Puppet Show". Ms. Wang Lu, a modern drama performing artist from Washington DC, and Professor Ms. Brecken Chinn Swartz from the University of Maryland will be the show’s hostess. They will provide concurrent English translation throughout the entire program. Chu Shan Institute has also invited the New York Shao Lin Temple disciples and members of Hebei acrobatic troupe to join in the play. In addition, Chu Shan Institute takes great pride in having invited these famous musicians: Tang Du, Li Li Ying, Ke Yin Fang, Wang Yu Li and Huang Shi Rong to provide the music ensemble for the production. Students from the Chu Shan Institute, the Rockville Chinese School and the Sligo Middle School will play various supporting roles onstage and offstage. Zhu Chu Shan and The Washington Chu Shan Chinese Opera Institute thank the Community Foundation for the National Capitol Region and the Montgomery County Arts and Humanities Council for making this production possible. 
中国近代期的音乐
所有宋、元、明、清等朝都包括在这个时期中， 这时期音乐的特征是诗乐和戏剧， 乃大众普遍的喜好，而纯音乐由主要地位退至次要地位。宋朝的人对诗乐有很大的 喜好，当宴席的场合，他们通常唱些诗来愉悦宾客；但只歌而不舞。不久以后各种 戏剧取代了诗乐得位置，有「南戏」(自明朝称为「传奇」)和杂剧相配；但杂剧在 元朝更得宠，在这戏剧中以此曲演奏重要部分，昆剧直到明朝才开始；京剧的西皮和 二黄乃是清朝的产物。 The music of the Sung, the Yuan, the Ming and the Ch'ing dynasties are included in this age. During this period the special feature of the music was the general prevalence of poetic songs; operas and pure music had to withdraw from their principal position to a secondary one. The people of the Sung Dynasty had a great fondness for poetical songs. During their feasts they usually sang some verses to entertain guests; but there was no dance with the song. Some time later, miscellaneous plays took the place of poetical songs. There were the "southern dramas" (since the Ming Dynasty, there were also some called "dramas of strange tales"). to match the miscellaneous plays. But miscellaneous plays were highly favored in the Yuan Dynasty and the northern tunes played a very important part in the drama. Kun opera was not begun until Ming Dynasty. Hsi P'i and Erh Huang tunes were products of the Ch'ing Dynasty. 由于诗和戏曲相配合，所以每一朝代的乐曲都有它们自己的特色，举例来说，宋朝 的乐曲就经历了三次演变，即： 第一期 乐曲乃承袭自唐朝的宴席乐， 而作某些修改。 第二期 歌谣的演唱和诗词的演唱逐渐分开，且诗词的演唱愈来愈少。 第三期 由於戏曲的普遍，音乐逐渐进入歌剧的范围。 唐朝 (西元六一八 ~ 九○六年)的梨园 堂明皇过着太平盛世，得一宠妃名叫杨贵妃，既美丽又聪慧。贵妃学舞极快，学得 不少赏心悦目的舞曲，如「霓裳羽衣曲」等。 堂明皇下令在梨园(内庭)训练一批少 男，以便和宫中少女配合唱歌舞。此后，用梨园这个名称来称戏团，用梨园子弟为 男女演员的统称；堂明皇本身则被供为戏剧界的祖师爷 - 老郎神。 Pear Garden of the T'ang Dynasty (618 ~ 906) Ming Huang, the Brilliant Emperor, of the T'ang Dynasty, enjoying a time of peace, acquired a concubine named Yang Yuhuan who was beautiful and intelligent. She soon learned to dance many delightful pieces, such as the "Rainbow Skirt and Feather Garment song". The Emperor then decreed that a group of boys be trained in the Li Yuan, the Pear Garden, of the inner court, to do choral dances with girls from the palace. Hence, the name Li Yuan was used to refer to the theatre, and "Children of the Pear Garden" has become the general name for actors and actresses. The Emperor himself is worshipped as the patron of Chinese opera. 宋 (西元九六○ ~ 一二八○年) 元 (西元 一二八○年 ~ 一三六八年) 杂剧 「杂剧」一词见于宋真宗时期宫廷百戏伎艺项目中，人们对此时的杂剧内容所知甚 少。宋杂剧是否为元杂剧的先驱，至今仍为疑问。 当宋都南移至现在的浙江绍兴县时，学者们才开始采用南方方言，撰写剧本，称为 「南戏」，意即「南方戏剧」。后来明代(西元一三八六 ~ 一六四四年) 的传奇， 即脱胎于此。元继宋鼎，为杂剧黄金时期，现存的「元曲选」，收录杂剧百篇，现 代的平剧大多从此处撷取剧情。 “Miscellaneous Plays" of the dynasties of the Sung (960~1280) and the Yuan (1280 ~ 1368) It was in the reign of Chen Tsung of the Sung Dynasty that the name Tsa Chu, "Miscellaneous Plays" was listed in the program of royal entertainments. Little was known about the content of the plays; so it remains doubtful whether they were the pioneers of the "Miscellaneous Plays" of the Yuan Dynasty. When the Sun capital moved south, to the present Chekiang Province, scholars began to compose plays in the southern dialect. They were called Nan Hsi, Southern Drama, from which was derived the "Ch'uan Ch'i" of the Ming Dynasty (1386-1644). The Yuan Dynasty, which succeeded the Sung, was the golden age of the "Miscellaneous Plays". A collection of one hundred plays has been preserved to the present. Many of them furnish plots for present-day operas.
明代(西元一三八六 ~一六四四) 传奇
"Romances" of the Ming Dynasty (1386-1644)
The mask
Please visit Chu Shan's Personal Website to learn more about Mr. Zhu Chu Shan and his work.
|
The Chinese drama was originally formed during the Tang Dynasty. Tang Ming Huang, the Emperor of Tang was deeply fond of drama. He opened a drama and dancing school in the imperial palace to train young boys and girls to perform. The school was then called Li Yuan. The name Li Yuan is carried on today to refer to the dramatic arts in China. Hence dramatic actors and actresses today are addressed as Children of Li Yuan. Tang drama expended from the Royal Palace to the common people and became popular in urban and rural area of China. It became a developed art by the end of the Song Dynasty (906-1127).
Generally speaking, one Washa consisted of multiple theaters, each of which was called a Go Lan. Go Lan Bai Xi or "hundred acts of the balustrades", was descriptive of the many forms of vaudeville-like comedy, drama, and acrobatics performed in Chinese marketplaces.
Go Lan Bai Xi will start at the entrance of the theater. Acting drummers, shadow boxing shows, vaudevillians, and peddlers will populate the theatre. A theater manager will be standing at the entrance greeting visitors - a mixture of the real audience and actors portraying designated roles, and will welcome them as they enter the theater to enjoy the show and to participate in the activities. Inside the Washa, there are people drinking teas in tea houses or chatting around, peddlers selling small goods, gamblers screaming, prostitutes wandering by, naughty kids running around, visitors swatting feather shuttlecock or playing ball, folks watching insect fighting, and so on. The whole theatre, beginning from the entrance, though the hallway, the auditorium and ending at the stage is a big stage mimic Washa. It reveals a traditional medieval Washa cultural environment. As audience members walk along the hallway and pass into the auditorium, they will see actors and actresses putting on makeup and getting ready for the play. At the onset a loud storm of gong and drum will announce that the real performance is about to begin. The hilarious comedian host and hostess come up onto the stage to announce the beginning of the show.
This production of an original Song play will feature programs selected from the Song Dynasty repertoire. “The Victoria Music of King of Lan Ling”, “Song Dynastic Acrobatic Technique Show", “ Imitation Puppet Show", together with an ancient dance "Dancing Judge", and a comedy talk show about two inferior physicians “Two contentious Doctors”. There will also be small plays such as Chinese Opera "Mu Lian rescues his mother", a story about how young Mu Lian has to fight against a Ghost to rescue his mother from hell. A classic well-known Chinese Opera " The Drunken Empress” will be performed by renowned Chinese Opera artist Tong Xiao Ling will mark the end of the show.
