Chinese opera director, Chen Shi-Zheng on his new production in NY - via the NY Times In recasting principal roles, Mr. Chen was faced with finding performers flexible enough to shed aspects of their Chinese opera training, including the emphasis on emulating the styles of past great performances. After one run-through at an enormous new cultural center in this rural swath of Jiangsu Province, he gathered the main actors and delivered a short lecture in which he urged them to make their performances more natural. Li Li, 25, who plays the monk, said in an interview that her Peking opera training had not taught her how to embrace the kind of acting that Mr. Chen sought. In Peking opera, “I’m copying what the previous generation has left for us,” she said. “The way I’m judged is by the standard set by previous performers. This time, the previous generation didn’t help me.” The work “took me out of my comfort zone,” she added. “The director created a new language.”
Posted on: Wed, 10 Jul 2013 05:09:18 +0000