OPERA REVIEW : Ya-Yin Reflects Western Influence

Western notions of realism are beginning to creep into the bare-stage traditions of Chinese opera, as witnessed in the presentation of “The Gall of the Peacock” by the Ya-Yin Ensemble of Taiwan at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Adapted from a traditional opera (“The Bridge of Tung Chi”) by An-Ch’i Wang, the Ya-Yin Ensemble utilized a series of innovations to tell the story of love, political intrigue and civil war.

Innovations obvious to the Westerner included far greater use of props, painted back-drops (derived from classical scrolls), severe lighting changes (including strobe and--overused--portentous flashings), and expanded orchestration to include violin and cello.

Reportedly, also, other musical styles were incorporated, speech and song repetitions were pared down (shaving off at least half an hour from the original), make-up and costumes were less rigidly assigned according to tradition and actors’ movements were made more realistic.

None of the changes appeared to discomfort the largely Chinese audience Monday, who applauded the principals frequently for their execution of the distinctive staccato melismas that seem to correspond to operatic cadenzas.

As the central Princess Ah-Kai, Hsiao-Chuang Kuo, director of the troupe, made the most of luscious opportunities to pass from girlish happiness to tragic grief. As her husband, the victorious warrior Kung Tuan, Fu-Yung Ts’ao was properly heroic and noble.

Lu-Hao Chu was the treacherous, virtuosic Nieh Shih.

Among a host of strong supporting cast members, Chin-Jung Chu, as the general Yuan-Hai Yang, offered a powerful suicide scene, and Hsi-Jung Liu was the spectacularly acrobatic Horse Boy.

Fortunately for everyone, the Chinese text and an English translation were projected onto screens at the side of the stage. Although the translation often went out of sync with the action, that mattered far less than one would expect, and only occasionally did the misspellings or grammatical irregularities prove impenetrable.