Yueju Opera Play illustrates Artist and Masterpiece

Huang Gongwang (1269-1354), argu-ably the greatest artist of the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), caught the national attention again when, on March 14th 2010, Premier Wen Jiabao mentioned his all-time mas-terpiece “Mountain Dwelling on Fuchun River” at a press conference during the Na-tional People Congress Half the painting is Taiwan and the other half on the mainland The premier’s account of the separation of the masterpiece and his wish to see the two come together in the future caused big repercussions across the strait and became a hot topic among cultural circles

The seed for a Yueju Opera play to depict the artist germinated when Premier Wen’s remarks were widely reported in the press The river that Huang’s masterpiece helps make famous in the history of Chinese art is part of Hangzhou and that is how Hangzhou Art Creation Center hit upon the idea, in April 2010, to produce a Yueju Opera play about the great artist and his masterpiece

Although the landscape painting is con-sidered one of China’s top ten timeless art-works, the artist’s life is little known That did not deter modern playwrights After half a year’s preparations and rehearsals, “Landscape and Huang Gongwang”, a Yueju Opera play, made its debut on July 22, 2011 in Hangzhou As the play had been highly publicized by the media, the premiere brought in a full house: experts, fans, Yueju Opera celebrities, and media

The play is directed by Li Jianping, a professor with Shanghai Theater Acad-emy The lead man and the lead woman are Zhao Zhigang and his wife Chen Shi Zhao Zhigang is one of a few rare male Yueju Opera artists as Yueju Opera has now returned to its all women format in recent decades The famous Yueju Opera artist signed a cooperation contract with Hangzhou in 2010 This play gives Zhao and his wife Chen Shi an opportunity to appear together in a play

After the show, more than 100 audience members came to the stage, hoping to take a closer look at the artists Some of these audience members were quite young

After the premiere, there were good reviews about Zhao’s performance Critics agree that the actor portrays a well-round artist However, some people dislike the romance, thinking it overwhelmed the master’s art and creativity, but said little about the artist’s artistic pursuit and his painting career A critic believes such a romance storyline is outmoded and con-ventional A veteran theatergoer comments that the romance has nothing to do with the masterpiece and the play is different from his expectation He even points out some discrepancies between history and the play

The Yueju Opera play will be staged in Taiwan in September as one of the cultural exchanges programs across the Taiwan Strait