Blending music, mime, martial arts, song and spectacle, this production from the China National Peking Opera Company defies categorisation. The form may date from the 19th century but the result is blazingly alive, and explains why Chinese acting had a big impact on an adventurous pathfinder such as Brecht.
At first, I felt we were being asked to immerse ourselves in an alien world of antique militarism set during the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD). But gradually the story took hold as we saw a 100-year-old grand dowager inspiring female members of the Yang family to take up arms against an invading army and to succeed where their men had failed. The second half offers a riot of colour and movement unmatched on the London stage as silken-robed women warriors wielding spears and staves and sporting feathered pennants on their shoulders do battle against burly, masked Xia fighters clad in sumptuous gold and purple. The outcome is never in doubt, but the invading soldiers put up a fight as they whirl across the stage doing high-speed acrobatic somersaults, to percussive onstage music, that take the breath away.
What has this to teach us today? The story, for all its feminist overtones, is one of feudal revenge. But as Brecht understood, Chinese acting reminds us that there is more to theatre than western realism. The ancient dowager (the remarkable Guo Yaoyao) registers grief over her grandson’s death through a fluttering gesture with her right hand. Prowess in battle is evoked through the wristy spinning of a spear. And, when horses have to be steered through a mountain pass, the manual gestures of the riders summon up the rearing steeds. Much of this production’s sensuous appeal lies in the rich costumes and patterned movement. But just as the chorus in Henry V urges us to work on our “imaginary forces”, so this extraordinary production proves that the spectator is a vital participant in theatrical spectacle.
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At Sadler’s Wells, London, until 22 November. Box office: 020-7863 8000.
