Adaptation of award-winning novel examines core issues with fresh techniques, Chen Nan reports.

'This is the life that you are most familiar with, the tables, the chairs and the facial masks hanging up there. You are living your lives and the only difference is that it's being staged in front of the audience," says director Zhang Manjun.

Standing on the stage inside the Mei Lanfang Theatre in Beijing, where classic Peking Operas are performed almost every day, Zhang, who is also a veteran Huangmeixi Opera actress, was in the middle of rehearsals for a new production, titled Leading Role, by the China National Peking Opera Company. Huangmeixi is a regional Chinese opera, popular in the areas of Anhui, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces.

Based on the novel with the same name by Chinese writer Chen Yan, which won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Prize, China's top literature award, Leading Role premiered at the Mei Lanfang Theatre this week.

The novel tells the life story of a famous Qinqiang Opera actress, Yi Qin'e, who spent more than four decades learning and performing the ancient art form. Qinqiang Opera is known for its high-pitched singing and dramatic performing style, and is a genre of traditional Chinese folk opera popular in Shaanxi province. Chen's novel, set against the backdrop of China from 1976 to 2016, reflects the changes of the country as well as the ups and downs of the opera.

The award-winning novel was adapted into a play by Shaanxi People's Art Theater, premiered last year. In June, Tencent Video announced a 40-episode TV drama, also based on the same novel.

When the China National Peking Opera Company decided to adapt the novel into a Peking Opera production, the creative team, including Zhang, scriptwriter Xu Xinhua and Wang Yong, head of the company, transformed the story so it could be performed by a Peking Opera troupe.

"Though the novel is about a Qinqiang Opera troupe — not a Peking Opera troupe — we share the similar experience of learning the old art form as a child and preserving it. It's not just a career for us but also a lifelong pursuit," says Zhang.

In the new production, Yi learns to practice Peking Opera as a child along with her uncle, who is a Peking Opera master. She becomes a star in the Peking Opera troupe but as the old art form faces challenges from the contemporary world, she goes through struggles, with few people watching Peking Opera shows, and deals with the fact that she is being replaced by younger actresses.

"It's cruel but very true for performers of traditional Chinese operas. We've witnessed the ups and downs of Peking Opera and we are all part of the changes," says scriptwriter Xu, adding that the creative team has been working on the production since 2021 and the script has been revised 14 times already.

"Besides the beauty of Peking Opera, we want to show the audience how hard Peking Opera performers work to preserve the old art. Behind their glamour onstage, they go through bitterness and hardships just like everyone," Xu adds.

Peking Opera actress Fu Jia plays the role of Yi and actor Wei Jijun plays the role of Yi's uncle, Hu Sanyuan.

Also known as jingju, Peking Opera is a 200-year-old art form that combines singing, dancing, acrobatics and martial arts.

"Unlike many classic Peking Opera productions we have performed, Leading Role is a contemporary story," says Fu, who was trained by Peking Opera master Du Jinfang (1932-2021). "We sing, recite, act and move onstage, loyal to the rules of Peking Opera. However, we need to make some changes about portraying the characters because they are not from ancient times."

The music of Peking Opera plays a key role in setting the pace of the show, creating a particular atmosphere, shaping the characters, and guiding the progress of the stories. In Leading Role, the drum is used as a solo instrument throughout the show. Other traditional instruments, such as the sheng (Chinese free-reed wind instrument), xiao (Chinese vertical flute) and erhu (two-stringed bowed instrument), are also featured as soloists, besides their traditional use in an ensemble.