Yuan Xuefen

cctv.com 07-23-2004 09:54

In August 1947, a fierce struggle took place on the stages of Shanghai. Peking Opera featured the 8 most famous actors in the whole of China. Their audience was enormous. The competition was Yue Opera with a troupe comprised of ten pretty young girls, known as the "Ten Sisters of Yue Opera." Their new Yue Opera had a full house every day and its popularity was rapidly overtaking that of Peking Opera. For a marginal form of opera specific to Zhejiang province with only 30 years of history, it was a startling achievement that Yue Opera could compete with Peking Opera on the cosmopolitan stages of Shanghai. Behind their success and glamour lay a remarkable woman called Yuan Xuefen.

Shanghai in the 40's provided an outlet for Leftist dramatists. At that time, Western drama had already been performed in China for 30 years. This period saw the ripening of a relatively new artistic form due to the efforts of a new generation of intellectuals. Some of the best novelists of the time turned their hands to drama, producing excellent scripts and scenarios that promised to surprise audiences. They also greatly inspired Yuan Xuefen.

This incident was only the beginning of Yuan Xuefen's trials. It seemed she would never be able to return to her normal life again. Threatening letters, some of which even contained bullets, poured into her letterbox. Yuan Xuefen's unbearable situation soon won the sympathy and support of the press. Four years of reform in Yue Opera had changed her life very little and, given the current situation, this time Yuan Xuefen decided to make a stand.

In 1942, when Yuan Xuefen initiated the reform of Yue Opera in Shanghai, she permanently changed her own fate, and the shape of this local art form. She integrated aspects of Peking Opera and Western drama into Yue Opera. Her efforts propelled traditional Yue Opera to new heights, attracting a rapidly increasing audience. Yuan Xuefen said the future of Yue opera was not in the hands of any one person, but would depend on the wills of those who love it, they are Yue Opera's foundation and future.

Editor:Xiang  Source:CCTV.com