Robert Tanitch reviews Warrior Women of Yang at Sadler’s Wells, London EC1
2015 is the UK-China Cultural Exchange and what could be more appropriate than a Peking Opera performed by The National Peking Opera Company. The last time they were here was 10 years ago.
Warrior Women of Yang is a traditional, classical, jingoistic spectacle, based on historical fact (960AD – 1279AD), and offering a mixture of mime, singing, high-flown dialogue, acrobatics and brightly coloured tableaux.
The acting is highly stylized. The gestures are exaggerated. The characters are stock and instantly recognizable to Chinese aficionados by their costume, make-up and beards.
The first act is all talk and song. The second act is all battle and action. The women, as you might expect, win the war.
Static tableaux, in which the only movement is in the hands and sleeves, suddenly give way to the cast sweeping and gliding across the stage.
The entrances and exits are taken at a fast pace. So, too, are the somersaults and the spinning and twirling.
The voices are shrill. The singing is ear-piercing falsetto solos. The music – drums, wooden clappers, gongs and cymbals – constantly punctuate what is being said and sung.
It is the richness of the winged costumes, and the huge headdresses and the plumed feathers, and the battle scenes which will be remembered.
Peking Opera is an unforgettable spectacle.
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