The artists and companies of every Chinese local opera are devoting their efforts to compete in the fast-changing entertainment industry - reforming the ancient art genre, creating excellent new repertoire and catering for modern theatregoers.

Shaoxing Opera, also known as Yueju Opera, which is popular in the eastern areas around the low reaches of the Yangtze River, is no exception.

The Hangzhou Yueju Opera Troupe from East China's Zhejiang Province has worked for about two years to present its new production "Liuhuaxi (The Liuhua Brook") which is being staged in Beijing at the Grand Chang'an Theatre until Wednesday.

The play focuses on the tragic fates of four women in four generations of a large feudal family at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

The plot revolves around Qiuhua (Autumn Flower) who suffers from the harsh and cruel treatment of her mother-in-law Donghua (Winter Flower).

When Qiuhua gives birth to a daughter, Donghua feels so unhappy that she abandons the little girl in the mountains and tells Qiuhua her daughter is dead. Meanwhile, the cold mother-in-law gets a boy to take the place of the poor girl and orders Qiuhua to bring him up as the male heir of the family.

Bitter days come to an end at long last when Qiuhua herself becomes a mother-in-law. Her "son," a young revolutionary, brings his wife Chunhua (Spring Flower) into the closely guarded feudal family, along with new ideas from the modern world.

The young Chunhua, who could not bear the torture of life in the feudal family, refuses to show obedience to Santaipo, Donghua's mother-in-law and the head of the family.

Recalling her bitter experience, Qiuhua protects her from Santaipo's harshness.

Chunhua later dies during childbirth in the arms of Qiuhua. Just before her death, Qiuhua finds that her daughter-in-law is actually her long-lost daughter.

Bao Chaozan, a veteran playwright from Zhejiang Province, shows great concern about the fate of Chinese women, and has written several stories on this theme.

He said: "I personally believe that the fate of women is very much related to the fate of the entire nation."

He finished the story about 14 years ago, but it was not staged until last year by the Hangzhou Yueju Opera Troupe. The Beijing tour sees it staged for the 11th time.

"Through the play, I want to contrast the death of the old feudal society with the dawn of the new era; to display different personalities in a torturing family and society; and call for equality, tolerance and love between people," Bao said.

"A good play comes from real life, while, on the contrary, a play far from real life drives the audience out of the theatre. The four women's lives reflect the majority of Chinese women's lives in feudal society," said Wang Shiyu, a renowned Kunqu Opera actor, after seeing its premiere in Hangzhou last September.

In feudal China, the daughter-in-law had to suffer from the mother-in-law's strict rules and harsh treatment. However, after she became a mother-in-law, she would take the same cold attitude toward her daughter-in-law. They were all victims of the patriarchal society, but were not aware of this enough to protect themselves.

"The conflicts between the two roles in the family were sharp. Though this hard relationship has changed with the times, the phenomenon still deserves much thought," Bao said.

Some viewers consider the play specially written for the middle-aged or older female audience, but Bao said it also attracted many young people to the theatre when it was performed in Hangzhou.

So he expects Beijing's audience to love it too, because "it is emotional, meaningful, interesting and benefits your life in reality."

Hou Jun, the president of the troupe, who is confident the play will be a success in Beijing, said that even though the play lasted over five hours when it premiered last year, no members of the audience left the theatre. The current version has been shortened to three hours and 20 minutes and there are many reasons for the audience to love it.

"The story is complicated and full of dramatic conflicts and the audience follows the characters' emotions. When we performed in Hangzhou, some viewers smiled when the leading role was happy on stage and sobbed when she cried," she added.

The production also borrows from other art forms to improve its visual impact. For example, in the scene that the cold Donghua asks the servants to beat Qiuhua, the servants and maids' performance features modern dance choreography.

And technology is well used in the mountain scenes and to depict the large-scale building of late Qing Dynasty.

Yang Xiaoqing's direction is delicate and subtle. She breaks some of the usual rules of Shaoxing Opera. When Qiuhua realizes the daughter-in-law dying in her arms is her own daughter, she does not wail bitterly or sing in a sobbing tune to express her lament. Instead, Yang has Qiuhua hum nursery rhymes peacefully.

"At the moment Qiuhua is too mournful to cry. She sings a children's song because she is being robbed of her baby daughter," she said.

The setting designed by Dai Xiaoyun and Xu Xiji features a rich local flavour of the regions along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and distinct signs of the times: Along the Liuhua Brook, the Chastity Arch, which was built as a memorial to a chaste woman in feudal times, stands in the scenic mountain. The courtyard of the family looks solemn and severe.

The bright atmosphere and green scene of the mountain village on the side of the brook sharply contrasts with the strictly defined and dark mansion, which suggests the very different life Qiuhua leads before and after she marries into the big family.

Although the crew is bold in blazing new trails in the play, the tunes scored by Hu Mengqiao and Wang Tianming never lose the original style of the Shaoxing Opera which is noted for its lyricism and sweet tunes.

And the other highlight of the play is that it has a cast of popular young performers from some famous Shaoxing Opera schools.

Xie Qunying, starring as Qiuhua, is one of the best artists of the Jin (Caifeng) School; Chen Xiaohong who performs the cruel Donghua is from the Wang (Wenjuan) School.

Both Xie and Chen are award-winners of the "Plum Blossom Prize," China's top award for drama and opera artists.

(Zhejiang Online November 11, 2003)