Notes on Questioning Heaven in Despair which I am sharing with
Petr who also happened to be there along with his son and two other Taiwanese friends at the performance this past Friday night.
I was very surprised that here in Prague, very far away from China, we have such a fine expert in Chinese opera, who is, I assumed, working hard to make Chinese opera more accessible, to both western and contemporary audience, while taking it to the next level - like what we saw on Friday. It was certainly a great pleasure and indeed a privilege to have the opportunity to converse with Feng Jun SONG briefly, to hear her anedotes on teaching Chinese opera to Czech students.
It was only yesterday did I have a chance to read the program in detailed and put it into persepctive of Friday's performance. And so, here are some questions that came to my mind.
*I was surprised to learn that Peking opera, as described by SONG, is an "evolutionary" art form with room for improvisation despite "constraints of a given character type". This is rather different from my understanding of the learning culture in China and especially in Beijing -- that students are expected to learn, conform, and pass on what they were taught. I am not sure how they are encourage to introduce changes and breakthroughs in the art form?
*Inside the programme guide, it writes that the Jesuits "were also the first to introduce Europe to Chinese theatre." Where in Chinese theatre can we find traces of European elements?
*As for the performance itself, how long did it take to prepare for the production? (i.e. When did the project start and finally become live in production?)
Personal questions for SONG:
*Language barrier and resource constraints aside, what are the constraints of developing Chinese opera in the Czech Republic? What are the advantages of being in this country?
*How does the Czech environment influence your work? i.e. What kind of new elements did it inspire? On this note, I must add that I like the inclusion of video projection as well as the interaction of between baroque opera and chinese opera -- they mixed and harmonized well.
*It is said that Chinese opera is an evolutionary process. Looking ahead, in what directions and in which ways are you planning to take Chinse opera into a new level? Would it be similar or different to what we saw in Questioning Heaven in Despair?
*Is there a chance that one day this Czech "home grown" Chinese opera will travel back to China? If so, what would you expect of it?
