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cctv9-Culture Express-Shaoxing Opera artist Mao Weitao
Sarah Siddons astonished 18th and 19th Century audiences by appearing as Hamlet, a role she played for 30 years. She was just one of many actresses who’ve taken on men’ roles. East China’ Zhejiang province gave us Shaoxing Opera’ Mao Weitao. In her thirty-year career on the stage, she’s best known as an outstanding male impersonator with a cult following of women. Today, we probe into how Mao Weitao makes the most of a century-old operatic tradition.
This woman has created another world for herself on the stage. In this world, she is incarnated into dozens of men, from the talented poet, to the frustrated scholar and the intrepid general.
Mao Weitao is the master-or mistress-- of the Shaoxing opera character of the Xiaosheng, or young man.
Mao Weitao said, "In Shaoxing opera, male roles played by actresses are marked with a poetic and graceful temperament that you can hardly find in real life. Idealism plays a part here. My interpretation of a male character must be a perfect man in a woman's eyes. That also explains why Shaoxing opera fans are mostly women. They find a Mr. Right in their dreams."
Shaoxing Opera takes its name from the region of its birth in Zhejiang Province. Around 1906, itinerant performers began entertaining farmers with a show combining singing and stories-telling.
The stories were mostly based on local romantic folklore and sung in local dialect. Its popularity grew, and several years later, the opera found its way into theatres in bigger cities such as Shanghai and Hangzhou.
Shaoxing Oprea was an all-male production until 1923. Then a group of teenage girls from poor families were recruited and given strict training. People soon discovered just how well suited a female timbre and delicate manner were for the romantic themes. From then on, an all-women cast became a signature of Shaoxing Opera.
As for Mao Weitao, even before she knew anything about Shaoxing Opera, the child had a strong penchant for acting, especially male characters.
Mao Weitao said, “When I was watching the movie ‘A Dream of Red Mansions’, I favored male roles such as Jia Baoyu and Qi Guan against female ones like Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai. I thought it would be wonderful if I could play the handsome boys. And no one could explain this mental enigma.”
At seventeen, Mao failed the college entrance exam. But it was her great fortune to be selected for the Zhejiang Shaoxing Opera Troupe. With her mezzo-soprano and striking beauty, she had the makings of an ideal Xiaosheng.
It was not long before Mao shot to stardom in a supporting role in a popular Shaoxing opera movie “Celebrating Mother’s Birthday.” And gradually, she built up a reputation as “the No. 1 Male Impersonator in China.”
Song Punan, Mao Weitao’s teacher, said, “Mao’s acting foundation was poor as she received no training before 17. But she was extremely industrious and self-disciplined. Once an aim is decided, she won’t give up until she succeeds.”
In 1999, Mao was designated to take helm of the Zhejiang Shaoxing Opera Company. But it was hardly an honor.
Like most traditional arts, Shaoxing Opera was struggling to pull through a difficult downturn. The shrinking market and fading interest weighed heavily on Mao Weitao, both as a performer and a supervisor.
And just in her time of crisis, a hero appeared: her director, Guo Xiaonan. Guo was drawn to Mao by her charisma both on and off stage. Evidently it was mutual. They got married in 2000.
Guo Xiaonan, director, said, “Mao Weitao has created a bizarre art phenomenon. A woman who’s portrayed so many men vividly on stage, which offers a lot of aesthetic leeway for audiences. She’s loved for her images in different plays. But off stage she is nothing like them, and you can hardly find a connection. I would only say she is truly an artist. ”
The couple have teamed up to push Shaoxing Opera across new frontiers. Together they've produced new plays that break away from the traditional romance-centered formula.
And in these plays, Mao Weitao finds a higher, better scope for her abilities. In “Bookworm Family”, she is cast as Fan Rong, an unflinching protector of his family’s book collection, though facing starvation. In “Cold Feeling”, Mao takes on the role of Jin Ke, a historic hero who attempts to assassinate the invading emperor but fails.
Guo Xiaonan said, “Mao’s performance in each of the plays is unique. By “unique”, I mean she never repeats herself. And no other actresses can imitate her."
For opera purists, Mao’s “rebellious” attempts peaked in the 2000 play “Kong Yiji.” She shaved her head to get into character for the destitute scholar in the Qing Dynasty whose bitter life mirrors the decadent old society.
For a time, her bald head generated even more publicity than the biting realistic play itself.
Mao Weitao said, “It was actually not necessary for me to cut my hair. It can be done with modern cosmetology techniques. It’s done in most films and TV dramas, and no one would blame me. But I wanted an overthrow, a revolution. Through Kong Yiji, I intended to prove to everybody that Shaoxing Opera has other possibilities."
"Kong Yiji” has drawn mixed reviews. While many hail it a successful revolution, others blast it a devastating departure from what Shaoxing Opera originally promised its fans: poetry, romance and elegance.
But Mao Weitao is not to be held back in her exploration of Shaoxing Opera, where a mysterious part of her inner self has found a home.
A woman who plays Xiaosheng knows all about seeming contradictions.
Mao Weitao said, “I define myself as a pessimistic idealist. The ‘pessimistic’ part of me holds a low expectation for success. But the ‘idealist’ part of me drives me to try something that seems impossible. Whatever the critics would say, I just feel released after each attempt.”
sarah siddons以其30年Hamlet的出色表演震惊了18和19世纪的观众。她正是许多扮演男性角色的女演员之一。来自东方的中国浙江有一位越剧演员茅威涛，在她的30年舞台生涯中，因其出色地扮演了男性拥有一批女性追随者而闻名。今天，我们将来探询茅威涛是如何继承着这百年之久的传统戏剧艺术。
她在舞台上为自己创造了另一个世界。在这个世界里，她化身为众多的男人，从天才的诗人，到失意的文人，甚或勇敢的侠士。
茅威涛是越剧女小生的领军人物。
茅威涛：女小生在台上，我刚才说的，潇洒、倜傥、风流、玉树临风可能比男演员呈现得还要完美，或者说更理想主义。因为它是假定的，它带有一种距离的，它是唯美的，它是理想化了的。所以就说越剧的观众为什么是女性居多呢？很多女性观众在剧场里企及到了她心目当中理想的男性，心中的白马王子。
越剧得名于她的诞生地——浙江。大约1906年，以演唱说故事为主要形式的演出在田间地头流行开来。
这些故事大多基于浪漫的民间传说并用方言演唱。它的受众渐渐增长，许多年后，这个剧种走进了大城市的剧院，比如说上海和杭州。
1923年之前越剧是全男班的，之后，一批穷苦家庭出身的十多岁的小姑娘被剧团雇佣并给以严格的训练，人们不久发现女性的音色以及细腻的表演方式与这些浪漫主题浑然一体。从那时起，全女班表演成为了越剧的特征。对茅威涛来说，在她对越剧几乎一无所知的孩童时代，便萌生了强烈的表演欲望，尤其是扮演男性角色。
茅威涛：一种无法言表的感觉。比方说看《红楼梦》的时候，就是喜欢贾宝玉和琪官，不喜欢林黛玉和薛宝钗，当然这种不喜欢不是说不欣赏这个戏中的角色，而是觉得我多么想去演那个贾宝玉那个琪官啊，就觉得怎么那么潇洒，那么漂亮，就是想要演小生。
17岁时，茅威涛高考失利，但她非常幸运地被选入了浙江小百花越剧团，她的次女高音和惊人的相貌正是一个理想的小生形象。
很快，茅威涛在一出非常受欢迎的越剧电影《五女拜寿》中扮演了重要角色。慢慢地，她获得了中国第一女小生的美誉。1999年，茅威涛担任了浙江小百花越剧团的团长，但这几乎不能算是一个荣誉。
与众多的传统艺术一样，当时的越剧正在衰退中艰难地挣扎，茅威涛同时作为一个演员以及一个管理者，市场的萎缩和关注的下降都给她带来了沉重的压力。
就在她的艰难时刻，一位英雄出现了：她的导演，郭晓男。郭晓男被茅威涛台上与台下的双重魅力所吸引。显然吸引也是双方的，于是2000年，他们登上了婚姻的殿堂。
郭晓男：她这个艺术现象很奇怪——今天我们在找话题的时候——一个女人去演这么多的男人的时候，她去心灵刻画的时候，观者审美上的空间很难用具体的这个人物去观照她。你说她就是梁山伯，定位也不准，你说她就是茅威涛又演了梁山伯，定位也不准。但是她弥漫给你的，弥漫在剧场里和舞台上的那种感染，确确实实就是我说的那种你说不清楚但是她就是一个艺术实体摆在那里去感染你，这么个状态。
这一对夫妻共同将越剧推展到新的境地，他们创作了新剧目打破了越剧固有的传统的才子佳人模式。
在这些剧目中，茅威涛寻找到了自己更多的表演余地。在《藏书之家》中，她扮演了范容，一个面对着重重困难也坚定地保护家族藏书的人。在《寒情》中，茅威涛演绎了荆轲一角，一个尝试刺杀侵国君王而未遂的历史英雄。
郭晓男：无论是《梁祝》，还是我排的《藏书》、《寒情》、还是我给她排的《孔乙己》，你拿出来绝对是另类，这个“另类”我不是说它的意义在于不与大众融合，在于她的东西没有重复性，就是别人做不到。
作为一个纯粹的戏剧人，茅威涛叛逆尝试的颠峰在2000年的《孔乙己》。她剃掉了头发去触摸角色，这是一个清朝的潦倒文人，他的痛苦生活映射着整个衰颓的旧社会。
她的光头一度比戏剧本身反映的尖锐事实得到了更广泛的关注。
茅威涛：假如说我舍不得剃头的话，还是可以过得去的，很多电影、话剧它都是这样搞的。我就觉得我要有一次彻底的对自己的挑战，或者说我要来一次颠覆也要，我要来一次革命也好，我就想通过《孔乙己》，我要向世人有一次宣言，越剧是可以成为这样的。
《孔乙己》带来了不同的声音，一些人大赞其为成功的变革，另一些人批驳这是对越剧本体的违背，毁灭了越剧观众所痴迷的那种诗意、浪漫和优雅。
但在越剧的探索道路上茅威涛从没有退缩，在那里，她自身的一个神秘的角落找到了归宿。
这个演小生的女人懂得所有表面上的矛盾。
茅威涛：我说我是一个悲情的理想主义者，我挺悲观的，我看什么问题都觉得好象是不可逾越的，但是我又非常理想，我总觉得有点儿明知不可为而为之，就是觉得应该去试一试，应该去做一些，然后自己瞬间得到一种很安逸，很沉浸（的感觉）。
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闷骚之人
