The Beauty of a “Virtual World”
3 min readPeking operaperformers onstage
Depicting a “virtual world”is a distinctive feature of Peking Opera. Its virtuality consists of two aspects: one is virtual movements, and the other virtual settings. Virtual movement refersto imitating actions onstage. For example, riding a horse. Onstage, an actor cannot ride a real horse, but can only hold a whip and imitate the movement of galloping by walking around the stage, turning the body, wielding the whip, and pulling the reins.A virtual setting means creating an imagined environment onstage. For example, rowing a boat. As there is no water or boat on the stage, an actor usually takes an oar and, through actions, makes the audience “see” the rowing of a boat on water.
The setting of the stage is very simple. Usually there is only one table and two chairs. Thetable, besides functioning as a table, may also symbolize a bed when an actor acts asleep by sitting at it with one hand upon it propping up his head. If he stands on the table and looks into the distance, it turns into a city gate tower. Simply put, changes in the stage setting follow the performance of the actors.
The effectiveness of virtual movements and virtual settings lies in their giving prominence to the actors’ performances, helping the audience feel the rich connotations of the opera and its infinite appeal. Let us take two highlights from two operas as examples.
one is At the Crossroad. This opera describes the story of two yamen runners escorting Jiao Zan to prison. On the way they stay at an inn for the night. Ren Tanghui, whose task is to protect Jiao Zan, checks in at the same time. The owner of the inn, however, suspects Ren Tanghui is planning to murder Jiao Zan, so he gropes his way into Ren’s room at night. Thusa fight starts. What is special about the performance is that, although the fight happens at night, the stage is brightly lit; yet the audience is able to sense it is a pitch-dark night from the actors’ performances, which feature stealthy movements typical of people in darkness. Sometimes, one man’s sword swishes down, only a few inches away from the other’s face, yet the latter feels nothing, thus producing a breathtaking yet meaningful and humorous effect.
The other example is Autumn River,a play transplanted from Sichuan Opera. This storydescribes a young nun, Chen Miaochang who leaves the nunnery to pursue her lover Pan Bizheng. Onstage, there is neither water nor boat, but through the performance of the young woman and the old boatman, the audience is able to obviously “see”that the stage is a river. The boat sways forward; all the way there the girl complains about the boat for being slow, while the old boatman keeps teasing her about her anxiety to see her lover. The performance is full of wit and humor.
These examples describe the function of the “virtual world”in the art of Peking Opera, which provides limitless room for the performances of actors; and in return, performers present the audience with a world of images full of appealing wit. If in fact the stage of At the Crossroad was really all black to represent the dark night, and there was a real boat on the stage of Autumn River, what could the actors do? And would we still find as much wit and meaning in the performances? We doubt it.
