Anhui Huangmei Opera Theatre, a group from China, depicts an ancient love story Goddess Marriage. li Yaying, director-general of China National Tourism Administration, tells Arjita Mishra the reason behind selecting the group
We have heard about the love stories of Romeo Juliet, Heer-Ranjha and laila Majnu but never heard any tragic love story from China. To tell you about the love story from our neighbourhood country, an opera group called Anhui Huangmei Opera Theatre is here in the city. They are all set to tell you about the love story between immortal and mortal through their play Goddess Marriage.
Talking about the performance, li Mei Mei, general manager of the group said, “The story starts with the Jade Emperor and other fellow Gods who live in heaven, and are in charge of all things in the mortal world. But there is rule that the immortal is different from the mortal, they can’t marry each other and that any immortal who violates the rule will be punished.”
She further added, “The story begins when seventh fairy daughter of the Jade Emperor, who is tired with her life in heaven, goes to the immortal world alone, regardless of the strict rules of heaven. There she meets Dong Yong, and they fall in love and get married and decides to live together. But unexpectedly, the Jade Emperor made a decree to separate them. At the farewell, Seventh fairy tells Dong Yong, ‘Heaven rules can separate us, but you and I will always be one’.”
The Anhui Huangmei Opera Theatre is a group which is over a century old and has grown into one of the five significant operas and is popular in Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei and some other provinces in the country.
China-India Tourism 2016 is organising in India for the first time with the joint efforts of both the countries. On the selection of the group, li Yaying, director general of China National Tourism Administration (CNTA), said, “We selected artistes on the basis of the story which they are going to depict through their performance because is very touching.” She also shared with us that both the countries, India and China, are rich in culture and this act could be a better way to reach out to the hearts of the Indian audience.
“This is a Chinese ancient drama and is a beautiful love story and can reach between the two people, although the language is different but the feelings are same,” said li Yaying.
On asking that how this event is going to improve the relationship between the two countries, Jiang Jian Guo, the president of the opera group said, “Both India and China are countries rich in cultural background. I am sure that Indian audience will like our performance and can connect themselves with this story. By organising such events in both of the country will definitely build a good relationship.”
“last year, China-India Tourism was held in China where Indian artistes went to perform and this year it is organised in India,” li Yaying pointed out.
The performance is divided into five parts — first act is known as The Magpie bridge. In this scene, the seventh fairy, the daughter of Jade Emperor decides to go to the mortal world. Second act is called Encounter which takes place in the mortal world and in this scene, seventh fairy meets Dong Yong and asks him to marry her.
The third act is known as Serving Bond where seventh fairy goes with Dong Yong and they start to live together. In the fourth act, named Spinning silk, seventh fasiry calls her sisters to help her in weaving ten bolts of brocade before dawn. In the fifth and final act, Seperation, Jade Emperor made edict to arrest the seventh fairy. At the farewell, she made a promise to Dong Yong that in the coming spring she will hand over their baby to him.
On asking about the costumes and make-up, Jiang Jian Guo said, “Our make-up and costumes depends upon the kind of role we are doing. The use of different colours symbolises different meaning.” He also told us that there are 50 artistes who performed in this act.
The role of the seventh fairy was played by Yuan Yuan who has won many national and provincial awards. On the other hand, Mei Yuanjun played the role of Dong Yong. The group has performed in many countries such as America, Canada, Japan, Italy, Singapore, France, et al. and has been praised for the audience.