Tomorrow is the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Chinese cultural events were organized in Singapore for the occasion. I was invited by a Chinese colleague to see one of them this evening at the Esplanade Theater.
The Feast of Han Xizai is a theatrical production inspired by a one thousand year old painting of the same name. It blends drama, poetry, music, dance and opera of the Tang era to tell the story of Han Xizai, a courtier who is attempting, not very successfully, to dispel his deep sadness at the decadence of the Tang Dynasty by immersing himself in a feast of music, dance and revelry with friends and courtesans.
The show was produced by a Taiwanese group and staged in a modern and minimalist setting of impeccable taste (almost Japanese). The costumes, however, were pure Tang era and magnificent. The action (to the extent that there was any) was arranged in five or six scenes, which were like tableaux of the successive stages of the party taking place on stage.
I loved the music, particularly the pipa played by a woman who was also singing a piece of poetry. It was a slow rythmic incantation, punctuated by chords plucked on this ancient string instrument. It reminded me of the biwa played by a blind young man in a Japanese movie I saw eons ago. There was a very catching drum dance performed by 5 women. They were facing the audience sitting at five drums arranged in front of the stage, with their left foot varying the pressure on the skin of the drum, which they were playing with two sticks.
The dancing was exquisitely graceful. There was in particular a "long sleeve" dance, which I liked very much, and also a "four clappers" dance, in which the dancing women were producing rattling and clapping sounds with wooden clappers they held in their hands.
It was a wonderful show, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. My only criticism is that the dramatic part, when the music and dancing stopped or took backstage, was at times excruciatingly slow and excessively mannered. But these are the characteristics of an ancient art form that are most likely to make modern audiences impatient. The staging of a tea ceremony was far too long, even though it was accompanied by arresting sounds plucked out of an ancient Chinese string instrument.
My friend asked to stay for the discussion with the artistic director and two of the artists after the performance. It was all in Chinese, which was of course entirely lost on me. I could not even amuse myself by taking pictures. I managed to snatch the one reproduced here of the two artists during the question and answer session. Although I did not use the flash, the noise of the shutter attracted the attention of an usher who almost jumped on me to remind me that taking pictures was strictly verboten. I would not have taken pictures during the performance, but I thought that it would not be distracting during the Q&A session. However, in Singapore, the rules are the rules and they are followed blindly by people who are not trained to exercise judgment.
But, nevermind these negative comments ... This was a superb show.
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