Western Musicals and Beijing Opera
Dialectics between certain kinds of art of the Eastern and Western hemispheres have never ceased to amaze the art-studying scholars of the world. One of the good modern examples of this pattern is Beijing Opera and Western musicals, which, even having been born in different parts of the world, yet are very much aesthetically related. Modern theatre has seen many new possibilities due to advancements of interculturalism, which facilitates integrating distinct performance practices and traditions, to the subsequent mutual enrichment. Alternatively, some of the elements of Oriental theatre where borrowed into the Western culture as a valuable resource of theatrical art, to be subsequently adopted and interpreted rather freely, without giving account to Eastern tradition on its own terms (Brandon, 1989). Very often, scripts were translated by people who knew well the language, but did not have any affiliation with theatrical institutions. This resulted in widespread misinterpretations of cultural codes encrypted in various elements of the plays, which worked to the detriment of the overall symbolic meaning.
Therefore, it is very important to distinguish between elements, tools, and methods of artistic representation in Western and Eastern genres. Mindful analyses of Eastern theatrical heritage and comparing its features to those of Western is what could help the symbolic elements to be accumulated in modern performance art, rather than dissipate themselves increasingly.
Conceptually, the difference between Western and Eastern theatre, similarly as between musical and Beijing Opera, is that first is the performance of “what”, and latter – of “how”. While in the framework of a Western musical aesthetic substance would manifest itself through the twists and turns of the plot lines, in the Peking Opera form is what would matter most, and that is why it may be rather difficult to comprehend this kind of art to an unprepared western viewer.
Beijing Opera is a branch of traditional art of China, which comprises some elements of classical music, choreography, singing, mime and acrobatics. Just like guinea pig is neither from the pig family nor originates from Guinea, Beijing Opera, which is quite far from opera in its Western classical sense, traces its roots from the two south-eastern Chinese provinces – Hubei and Anhui, and is first mentioned in the late 18th century. In order to be accepted into the circles of performers of this kind of art, one has to comprehend and be able to reproduce a wide amount of stage idioms, such as differentiation of the timbre of singing performance and, say, broad arsenal of hand gestures which are used to reflect sophisticated nuances of the performance. In Western musicals, to the contrast, art of the actor more often than not lies in the framework of his overall personal charisma, ability to charm the audience and articulate well all kinds of moods of the plot. The “what” part of the play is particularly highlighted, such as content, structure and linguistic eloquence. Directors of Peking Opera would put these latter …