Peony in bloom By Adeline Chia
Publisher:The Straits Times - Publication Date: 09-06-2008

An aunt's whim got Wei Chun Rong into kunqu opera at the age of 10. She registered Wei as a student at the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre in Beijing.

At that time, Wei's parents were working in Singapore. Her father was a chef and her mother, a hotel manager. Both are retired now and live in Beijing.

Little Wei, who loved to sing and dance, got into the school and never looked back. Now 36, she is one of the top actresses in kunqu, a 600-year-old Chinese opera style known for its refined music and poetry.

She has won a series of accolades, including the Plum Blossom Prize in 2004, China's highest award for stage performances. She has toured places such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan and Europe to great acclaim.

The virtuoso will be in town this week to perform in awaking, an unusual concert directed by TheatreWorks' artistic director Ong Keng Sen.

The avant-garde performance will include elements of Elizabethan music, refined Chinese kunqu opera music and new compositions from well-known Chinese composer Qu Xiaosong.

Wei will be performing extracts from Peony Pavilion, a famous play written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming dynasty in the 16th century.

She has been married to a classmate from the opera school for 12 years. They had known each other since they were 10 and started dating when they were 20. "He is my first and only love," she tells Life! over the telephone from Beijing. The couple have no children.

Her husband stopped performing years ago and became an assistant director for television programmes.

1. What was it like to study in the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre in Beijing?

Very hard. My day started at 6:30am and we broke for dinner only at 6pm, after which we would do homework from 8pm. We went home only on Saturdays.

There was a lot of physical training involved, including painful stretches. But stretching is important because it prepares you to be a better performer. When you are flexible, you move more smoothly and beautifully.

But six years of this is very long for a child. I remember thinking and thinking: 'When can I graduate?'

2. What gave you the strength to continue?

My love for kunqu. Maybe it's my personality - I'm a slow burner. I didn't like or understand kunqu at first, but slowly, I grew to appreciate its beauty. Things are seldom love at first sight for me, including my husband. But my feelings, once they are developed, run very deep.

3. Any special habits that you have before or after performances?

After every show, I down a can of cold Coke. People say it's not good for the voice, but it doesn't really affect me. I love it.

4. Do you feel comfortable acting in an avant-garde performance such as awaking, which fuses East and West?

It will be the first time that I'm performing in a non-traditional format, but most of the segments where I am performing will still be conventional kunqu.

Near the end of the show, I use only body language to portray the character's emotion as there is no singing. This is challenging because my body needs to do all the work.

5. You have a blog at chunrong.cn/. Do you spend much time on it?

My sister, who is a web designer, started it for me. She said that it's important that fans can keep up with kunqu news.

Honestly though, I have no time to write. I am also a technophobe; I seldom go on the Internet. I type so slowly - a short paragraph takes me a long time.

6. Do you have any interesting or strange fans on your blog? Does it attract many comments?

They are not strange, but they love kunqu and the way they express it is very direct and very enthusiastic. They want you to know that they like you too. But I haven't received any presents from them. They are just friendly people.

7. When will you retire?

I don't think I'll ever retire fully from the arts scene. I may stop acting and become a teacher or even a director.

8. Complete this sentence: If I could live my life all over again, I would...

Become a painter. When I was a child, I learnt a bit about the basics of painting, such as water-colour and figurative drawing. I like Western oil paintings and, given a choice, I would explore being a painter too.

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