August 7-13, 2003

artpicks

Philadelphia Chinese Opera Society

Opera

Forget fat ladies in Viking helmets. Did you see martial arts, dancing, elaborate makeup and a mischievous Monkey King the last time you went to the opera? Or maybe you have never gone, cringing at the thought of altos and sopranos dueling at glass- and ear-shattering levels.

Cringe no more. Chinese opera, a 200-year-old art, features all the combat and excitement that is missing from its Western cousin, without the focus on the high-high notes. Over the past year, the Philadelphia Chinese Opera Society has been bringing tales from Chinese history and literature to life in the Philadelphia area; they come to the Morris Arboretum this week.

Using elaborate costumes and makeup against a stark set, the society performs a brand of Chinese opera stemming from Beijing, with folk traditions blended into the stories. Characters depict certain stock types, such as the old scholar or the young maiden, much like Italian commedia dell'arte plays, although makeup is used instead of masks to reveal the character.

The society will be performing a number of short acts, including a martial arts battle at dusk and the antics of the Monkey King, an infamous character in Chinese literature (and in Big Bird Goes to China). So leave the fat lady to mourn her warrior love and see what the Monkey King is up to this weekend. Your ears will thank you for it.

Philadelphia Chinese Opera Society, Thu., Aug. 7, 6:30-8 p.m., $6-$8, Morris Arboretum, 100 Northwestern Ave., 215-247-5777.

—Brian White

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