Renowned Peking opera diva to perform in largely free-form “Meng Xiaodong” 

Dressed in a suit, with a tie, a gentleman’s hat and a pair of solid gold eyeglass frames in a news conference at the end of last year, Wei Hai-min, the most renowned Peking opera diva of Taiwan, bears little resemblance to Xiao Tan, her usual female role on stage.

Exuding an avant-garde elegance as always, Wei said she will be playing Lao Sheng (old man role) in Guo-guang Opera Company’s new, largely free-form “Meng Xiaodong,” and will sing in three completely different voices, a challenge that has never been tried in Peking opera.

Wei as an actress has the reputation of being a perfectionist and adventurer of both traditional Peking opera and alternative theatres.

She is the most graceful Ching I in “The Drunken Concubine,” the shrewish and capable woman in “Wang Shi Fong: The Most Scheming Woman in Dreams of the Red Chamber,” the unforgettable Lady Macbeth in “The Kingdom of Desire.” And that is just a small part of her Peking opera adventure that spans more than 40 years and is impressive and innovative without parallel.

Born in 1957, Wei is the youngest of three daughters. Her father’s playing the huqin, a traditional Chinese string instrument, and occasionally singing lines from Peking opera gave her an early encounter with the art form. She joined the Haiguang Chinese Opera School in 1969, receiving harsh, disciplined training. She was chosen to play the roles of Ching I.

A Ching I actress is a lady of good and sympathetic character. Usually of a quiet, gentle disposition and graceful in her movements, she is the Chinese ideal of a beautiful woman. Ching I actresses’ singing is of pure, and high-pitched quality.

To play the role of Ching I well, Wei said Ching I actresses learn to paint, arrange flowers, and be surrounded by beautiful things. Wei does not allow herself to look sloppy or unkempt. Whenever she is on or off stage, she always appears gracefully dressed.

But for those who are close to Wei, the actress is outspoken, open-minded, straightforward, and not the least like the shy and sometimes melancholy women portrayed in the traditional Peking opera.

Wei is generally considered to have a warm and penetrating voice. She was a household name in the 1980s and won many prominent awards in the Peking opera circle. She received the Plum Flower Award, the highest honor for Peking opera artists in China in 1996, and was the recipient of Taiwan’s highest artistic honor—the National Award for Arts in 2007.

Aside from the well-known fact that Wei studied under Mei Lanfang, the most skillful Ching I artist who revolutionized Peking opera, for 10 years from 1991, Wei also studied Lao Sheng singing extensively.

Her qualities make her an ideal candidate to interpret Meng Xiaodong (1908-1977), the most well-known and talented female impersonator of the role of Lao Sheng in China.

Meng may not ring a bell for non-opera lovers, but for Peking opera buffs, the name symbolizes the highest status of singing by Lao Sheng artists. Meng was the only female student who studied under the legendary Lao Sheng actor Yu Shuyan (1890-1943).

In search of the pure voice: Meng Xiaodong

After the news of Wei’s role in “Meng Xiaodong” was made public, Wei’s followers in Taipei are wondering how the opera would be realized, particularly the singing part.

Singing in the Lao Sheng role should be soft and pleasant, neither too strong nor too high-pitched, but gentle and firm. Lao Sheng artists use their natural voice when singing.

Wei said she was initially anxious when she accepted the role, worried that singing in three voices would have an adverse impact on her voice. “Listening to the melodic variations of Lao Sheng singing is one of my biggest enjoyments, and I am practicing to achieve that goal,” she said at a meeting with her fans in Eslite Bookstore in January.

She spoke of her portrayal of Meng from the perspective of an actor: “As a Peking opera actress, I am obliged to play as many roles as possible. Peking opera portrays beauty and illustrates high ideals, so we would not be talking about Meng’s love life, but of her musical achievements,” she said. “I am inspired by Meng’s insistence on searching for the dream voice throughout her life.”

Wei started to demonstrate some Lao Sheng singing for the audience, transporting them with the rich tones of her voice to the world of Meng, whose life was devoted to art and Peking opera.

Meng was born to a theatre family and was a famed Peking opera Lao Sheng star by the age of 12. She left Shanghai for Beijing at 14, with a wish to find and learn the purest voice from Yu Shuyan.

She met Mei at 18, and the two fell in love and got married, but their marriage ended in 1933 after only four years. Mei had told her to quit opera, and ever since, she stopped giving public performances, except the time when she was asked to sing for her second husband Du Yuesheng on his 60th birthday. Meng was 40 at that time.

But Meng’s passion for singing never withered away. She listened to the phonograph records sung by Yu, and all alone, she practiced singing for hours, for days in her house. She finally had the chance to study under Yu, for five years until 1943. But Meng refused to sing in public, keeping her search for the pure voice to herself.

Wang An-chi, artistic director of Guo-guang Opera Company, who crafted the script and composed the lyrics for “Meng Xiaodong,” said the piece will feature Wei in three roles, as Meng Xiaodong singing the Lao Sheng opera, singing a soliloquy, and as the voice of Mei Lanfang. Guo-guang’s Tang Wen-hua will play Meng’s second husband Du.

Wang remarked that “Meng Xiaodong” will not please everyone. The work is largely a free-form presentation of Guo-guang Company, which aims to bring a new style to traditional Peking opera.

According to Wang, the accompanying music of the first half will be more vivacious, while the second half will have a subtler undertone.

The music was composed by Chung Yiu-kwong, director of Taipei Chinese Orchestra, and the costume was designed by Wang Yi-mei. Tianjin-born En Shao will be the conductor for the performance.

With multimedia devices, the drama will be told in flashback, starting from Meng’s deathbed at the age of 70 in Taipei.

The adventure goes on

Wei has high expectations of herself. Twenty years ago, she played Lady Macbeth in “The Kingdom of Desire,” a creation of the Contemporary Legend Theatre of Taiwan, which fused Shakespeare’s thick plot with the mise-en-scene of Peking opera. The opera has toured extensively in the United States and Europe.

In 1990, the Royal National Theatre in the UK invited the Contemporary Legend Theater to perform “The Kingdom of Desire” in Stratford-on-Avon, where Wei was dubbed "the most beautiful Lady Macbeth."

The year 2006 saw Wei play the tormented female lead Cao Chi-chiao in the Golden Cangue, an adaptation of Chinese author Eileen Chang’s same-title novel. The character, Wei said, was the most difficult role she has ever portrayed. In 2009, she worked with American theatre genius Robert Wilson for “Orlando,” a production that showed spectators a Wei Hai-min as never seen before. Playing the androgynous character drew criticism from some traditional Peking opera viewers, but Wei was unmoved.

"Gender is just the outer appearance. Only through playing the male and female characters can a real actor or actress be born,” she said.

The diva will, for the first time, hold her personal concert in May. She will blend Peking opera singing style with pop music, and give three concerts, on May 8 in Taichung, May 16 in Taipei, and May 29 in Tainan. More information is available at http://blog.yam.com/weihaimin
"Meng Xiaodong” will be staged from March 11 to March 14 at the Taipei Zhongshan Hall.