REVIEW: Beijing Opera Costumes: The Visual Communication of Character and Culture
by University of Hawaii Press
Extracted from Scene 2007- 08 December Issue 2
In Romeo and Juliet, I was playing
the part of Mercutio. This for me was a
dream role – the mercurial friend of
Romeo, who has a fabulous death
scene half way through the play. When I
auditioned for the part, I knew that
Nancy would probably get me to read
the ‘Queen Mab speech’, so I thought I
would learn it. Mercutio always seems
to be portrayed as this very funny,
wacky character, but on reading the
speech, I began to see a darker side to
him. The end of the speech is littered
with derogatory references to women –
eg. ‘pricked from the lazy finger of a
maid’, ‘O’er ladies’ lips... Which oft the
angry Mab with blisters
plagues/Because their breaths with
sweetmeats tainted are.’, ‘And bakes
the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs’. Why
has he such a profound problem with
women? What is his attitude to them?
He seems to be a very funny, witty man,
who is the life-and-soul of the party, but
with a deep sadness to him. A few
people I know who are like that are
alcoholics, and so I wanted to explore
that possibility. I went into the audition,
therefore, with these thoughts and ideas
going around in my head. On getting
the part, I was really excited about
taking them further, and that is what
Nancy is brilliant at. She is great at
helping you get into the psyche of a
character, offering up psychological
reasons for certain kinds of behaviour.
Unlike Romeo, who tells you why he is
feeling the way he is (e.g. He’s in love
with Rosaline, but it is unrequited),
Mercutio never explains why he says
the things he says. Nancy and I,
therefore, built up a history for Mercutio
together, examining his relationship with
his mother, his father and, subsequently,
his friends, notably Romeo and
Benvolio. To make Mercutio opinions
work for me, I had his mother run off
with another man, abandoning him in
the process. This helped to explain why
he has such anger towards women and
love. He wants to love, he wants to get
close to someone, but whenever he
does, he pushes them away, because
in the end ‘life is sh**’. For me, Mercutio
was a nihilist.
Marianne is similar to Nancy in
wanting to get to the root of why a
character is the way he/she is – it’s all
about motive and intention. So when I
went into the audition for Borachio in
Much Ado About Nothing, one of the
first things she said was, ‘I think
Borachio is in love with Hero’. That
was brilliant for me. Instantly there was
a reason for having such hatred
towards Claudio, but also for having
such a sudden, open confession at the
end of the play. Marianne doesn’t let
you off the hook for a second. If your
motive and intention aren’t razor sharp
she’s onto you. We would do a lot of
improvisation to free-up the scenes,
but also to bring these intentions into
clear focus.
That is just a taster of what I
experienced in my two years at The
RSC. I learnt more than I could
possibly imagine from all the directors
and my fellow actors. It was a huge
learning curve that I hope will continue
to grow. I am about to work with
Marianne again at The National Theatre
in May for ten months, and I
can’t wait!
Review
Recommended to ISTA, by Bruce McDonald, from Graded School, Brazil
Text taken from University of Hawaii Press
Beijing Opera Costumes:
The Visual Communication of
Character and Culture
by Alexandra B. Bonds
Beijing Opera Costumes is
the first in-depth Englishlanguage book focused
exclusively on the costumes of
Jingju, the nationally dominant
form of indigenous theatre in
China. Meticulously researched
in Honolulu, Taipei and Beijing, this
comprehensive volume provides the
theory of the conventionalized style of
the costumes, and analysis of the
design aesthetics as well as
performance practices. A survey of the
rich and complex history of Beijing
opera and significant developments in
design over the past millennium
explains the development of
standardized costumes to
communicate the roles to the
audience. Derived from historical
dress, the costumes were modified for
the stage to enhance the actors’
performance and the
audience’s enjoyment.
Extensive
descriptions illuminate
the details of the
costumes, the system
of colour meanings,
and symbolism in the
embroidered imagery
and how these
design
elements
transmit details
about the
characters, as
well as contribute to the overall beauty
of the stage picture. Details on
makeup, hairstyles, headdresses and
footwear present a complete view of
the Jingju performer from head to toe.
The intricacies of selecting costumes
and dressing the actors for a
production is also included, along with
pattern drafts for most frequently worn
garments.
Lavishly illustrated with over 250
color and black-and-white
photographs and pattern drafts, Beijing
Opera Costumes is an indispensable
record of and resource for Jingju as it
is performed in China today. Textile
artists will appreciate the beauty of the
colors and designs as well the
information on embroidery techniques
and symbolism of the images. China
scholars will value the contextual
analysis and theater specialists the
explication of costumes in relation to
performance. Finally, costume
designers will relish the opportunity to
examine in detail their art in another
cultural setting and theatrical style.
Alexandra B. Bonds is professor of
costume design at the University of
Oregon and Vice President for
International Activities of the United
States Institute for Theater Technology.
Publication date: Spring 2008
ISBN: 987-0-8248-2956-5
Available from
www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
Scene | 2007-8 December Issue 2 | 15