CO stories

The cantonese opera A Gentleman’s Bridge is another unusual story. I think so.

My opera fanatic friend said , “You don’t understand.”
She said that I cannot use present-day moral yardstick to judge Chinese society and its practices thousand of years ago. Then, she said, traditions were law and women had no status in society. Right.

I remember A.C. said exaggerations are common in Chinese opera. True.

I think I also cannot look at the happenings in the Imperial Court in the normal light. Amai said face and power were more important to the Emperor and the ministers than justice. Never mind if innocent people died as a result.

The TV was on and one main news item was the election in Thailand. Then I thought of Thaksin. Is this also a question of power and face? I am not anti-Thaksin. My personal view is that if the Thais feel that he is not fit to lead the country, then vote him out. But not by street demonstrations.

Back to A Gentleman’s Bridge. The crux of the story:
Due to a terrible blunder a girl was match-made to her lover’s father. How to resolve the matter? An adulterous woman would be put in a rattan cage used to carry pigs and drowned in a river.

The show did not say how the blunder occurred. The audience had to create the missing part.

Usually Cantonese opera shows have beautiful if not lavish backdrops and settings. But in this show, most of the time it was a dark simple backdrop and just the bridge. Miko would be delighted as she likes simple backdrops which leave alot to the audience’s imagination.

Ting Fan and Jeong Mun Tuin are established artistes with their own styles and strengths. I think Ting performed better than last year when his troupe was here. Wen Ru Qing and Zeng Xiao Min, students of Ting Fan, played the young lovers and they performed creditably. Xiao Min is an outstanding ‘dan’ who is adept in the virtuous woman role as well as the warrior role. She sings well too.