To mark the 110th anniversary of the birth of the renowned Peking Opera actor Mei Lanfang (1894-1961), Beijing Peking Opera Theatre has produced a five-scene "dramatic poem" entitled Mei Lanfang. The show will be performed at Chang'an Grand Theatre from May 1 to 6.

What is a "dramatic poem"? The idea came from director Chen Xinyi, who started working on Mei Lanfang two years ago.

She explains that it is a play without highly dramatic or intriguing plot, featuring rather a number of scenes centred around a leading role. "The lines are poetic, the general atmosphere is poetic and the play as a whole reads like a poem of several parts," she said.

Chen said they produced the show to pay homage to Master Mei, but it's a challenging task to display his life, achievements and personality in a play of only two hours.

"I spent a long time thinking about how to portray such a famous figure. In my mind, Mei was not only an outstanding Peking Opera actor well-known for his singing and acting, but an admirable patriot who stopped shaving and made himself sick so as not to have to perform for the Japanese occupation troops during the War of Resistance Against Japan (1937-45). That embodies one of Mei's deepest values and I try to share our appreciation of that value with the audience," said Chen.

"I do not think we could adequately portray his character by telling his story from birth to death. So I came up with the idea of the 'dramatic poem,' picking some of the most impressive scenes from Mei's career and life and connecting them to reveal his attitudes, personality and spirit," she said.

Mei was President of the China Academy of Folk Opera when Chen was a 16-year-old student there in 1955.

One day, after his class, he asked if the students had any questions. Chen plucked up courage to say: "You are a man, but why do you always play the role of a woman?"

Mei's answer impressed Chen deeply: "Because men know women's beauty better than women themselves do."

Recalling the master, Chen was lost in an enveloping reminiscence.

Once she watched him play The Goddess of Heaven Scatters Flowers (Tiannu Sanhua). When he turned to pick a flower, his movements and especially his finger gestures impressed Chen so much that she "even smelled the scent of the flower in his fingers."

In the five-scene "dramatic poem," actor Hu Wenge acts as Mei Lanfang picking a flower in the role of the Goddess of Heaven. The role of Mei Lanfang as himself is played by Yu Kuizhi.

This is Chen's special way of depicting an actor who performs female roles on stage. Chen's "poem" shuttles back and forth between reality and theatre in each scene, with famous Peking Opera actor Yu Kuzhi performing the role of Mei while Hu Wenge plays the female roles that Mei brought to life on stage.

At the beginning, Chen was not sure whether Yu could be a convincing Mei Lanfang, for Yu always acts old male roles in Peking Opera dramas. "In terms of physical stature, Yu is not an appropriate Mei. But as the rehearsals went on, he convinced all of us with his portrayal of Mei as a firm and upright man although he plays gentle ladies on stage," Chen said.

Mei Baojiu, Mei Lanfang's son, praised Yu's performance. "Yu is too young to have seen my father's performances. He came to me for stories of my father to develop a feel for the role as soon as he decided to take up the challenge.

"Now he has caught the balance of my father's toughness in reality and softness in his female roles on stage."

Yet the 43-year-old popular actor himself is quite humble. Yu said, "It's a great honour for any Peking Opera actor to perform Master Mei. He is one of our country's most respected figures, worthy of deep study, not only for his artistic achievements, but for his noble character as well."

Hu Wenge, 34, was an actor in Qinqiang Opera before learning female roles in an opera school in Xi'an, in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

With a handsome face and high-pitched voice, Hu later turned to the pop scene, singing both man's and women's songs.

Fascinated with playing the charming female roles of Chinese opera, he won the recognition of Mei Baojiu in 2001, and was invited to become a student of the Mei School created by Mei Lanfang.

Director Chen is quite satisfied with his performance. "Hu is a gifted actor. I appreciate his returning to Chinese opera from pop singing to carry on Mei's approach to playing female roles. He fits in well."

Centred around Mei, the "dramatic poem" also features his wife Fu Zhifang (played by Li Shensu), the actor's close friends Qi Rusha (played by Chen Junjie) and Qi Baishi (played by Zhu Qiang), and Peking Opera master Yang Xiaolou (played by Li Yan).

This is a super lineup drawn from today's Peking Opera performers. All the actors and actresses are top Peking Opera artists. According to Chen, they are all caught up in the performance, although some of them have only three or four lines.

"A 'dramatic poem' must be concise. Every role is important, but there's not enough time for each of them to sing long lyrics as in the classic repertoire. They have to work to the point and they have done it well," said the director.

"They are artists, not showmen. Artists conquer the audience while showmen seek to ingratiate themselves with the audience."

(China Daily April 30, 2004)