'Kunqu Opera prince' witnesses its resurgence
Zhang Jun performs Kunqu opera.
Personal profile
Born in October, 1974, Zhang Jun, a native of Shanghai was honored as a UNESCO Artist for Peace in 2011 and is known as the “Prince of Kunqu Opera.”
In 2015, Zhang's original Kunqu Opera work "Blossoms On A Spring Moonlit Night" was a box-office sensation when it went on tour. Zhang's acting career has witnessed the revival of Kunqu Opera from "no show to offer" to "all seats occupied." He is devoted to spreading the traditional theater by bringing Kunqu Opera performances to colleges and setting up Zhang Jun Kunqu Opera Art Center. Zhang won the 24th Plum Blossom Prize, Best Leading Actor of the 11th Shanghai Magnolia Stage Performance Award and Shanghai Artists Honorary Award. His life as an artist has converged with the progress of China's reform and opening-up.
A young Zhang Jun (left) poses for photo when he was enrolled in the Shanghai Theater Academy in 1986.
My story
China's reform and opening-up policy started in 1978, when Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe was officially founded. It offered me a chance to study Kunqu Opera at Shanghai Theater Academy in 1986. After eight years of study, I joined Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe in 1994. However, at that time I faced a challenge of "no play to perform." It was just like "unemployment after graduation."
Chinese people at that time were engaged in economic construction to improve their living conditions. They didn't have much time to attend traditional theater performances. It was also a big shock for Kunqu Opera. Each performance only attracted three to four viewers while over 30 actors were on stage.
We are the third generation of Chinese Kunqu Opera students. To give us more opportunities to perform, my teacher Cai Zhengren, who was then the director of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe made a decision — asking the senior artists and fellow apprentices in the troupe to offer us more chances to perform.
With more opportunities to practice on stage, we made big progresses in acting in the following three to four years. However, it was owing to the sacrifice of the elder artists in the troupe. Many of the artists were in their 50s. They gave up their own performing opportunities on stage for young people's development. How to preserve and promote Kunqu Opera also posed a big pressure on my teacher Cai.
At that time, we thought that we could find potential audiences at colleges. So we began to promote Kunqu Opera at some local colleges. I remember that in 1997 we organized a Kunqu Opera performance at a college of sciences. The hall that could hold 400-500 people was fully occupied. The principal locked the door of the hall in case of students quitting during the intervals. However, at the second chapter of the show, there were still many people escaping from the hall by climbing over the walls.
That performance struck me a lot. I realized that we should make the theater more accessible to young college students. We had to come up with more new methods to share with them the charm and artistry of Kunqu Opera.
It took me some time to write a planning report and script. On December 19, 1998, the 60 or so third generation of Chinese Kunqu Opera students staged a performance at Tongji University. The show attracted 2,500 viewers, none of whom quit at the intervals. At the end of the performance, the applause was overwhelming. Many enthusiastic students followed us backstage for signatures.
In the following 10 years, my colleagues and I performed at almost all the colleges in Shanghai.
In 2008, we presented an unabridged version of the classic "The Palace of Eternal Youth" at the Lyceum Theater. It took us four evenings to stage the 10-hour version of the opera. We offered 20 performances at that time. It occurred to me that it was a good chance to understand the composition of the increasing audiences, who were they and why they attended Kunqu Opera shows. So I made a survey about that. The results shocked us a lot. Around 66.6 percent of the audiences were well-educated young people. Over 70 percent of the audiences began to understand Kunqu Opera because of our sharing at colleges. It was the best feedback for my perseverance of 10 years, and made me think more.
Zhang Jun during his studies at Shanghai Theater Academy.
At that time, the reform of cultural administrative system encouraged young actors to explore diverse development for their career. I was then the deputy director of Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe. After learning experience from predecessors, we started to nurture a new group.
On September 22, 2009, Shanghai Zhang Jun Kunqu Opera Art Center was founded. I was very proud and moved. It offered me a new chance to promote Kunqu Opera art. The progress of the era also gave Kunqu Opera a robust momentum for development. Later, I continued to learn performing from my predecessors and promote the charm of Kunqu Opera at more occasions including open street, cultural salon, museum and gallery.
Interactivity with audiences also gave us new inspiration for creation. During the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, we made new revisions to "The Peony Pavilion" based on audiences' tastes. The play was a joint effort by artist Tan Dun and me. A total of 220 performances had been staged for seven years at that time.
In 2015 we presented the new original Kunqu Opera work "Blossoms On A Spring Moonlit Night." It was a Kunqu Opera play created on contemporary spirit. Our tour performances at dozens of cities in China were a huge success. On May 18 this year, we staged a new style concert at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. The concert that fused new age, jazz, electronic and rock'n'roll with traditional Kunqu Opera scores attracted thousands of fans. It was also a conclusion of our efforts over the past 20 years.
Looking back on the 40 years, my artistic life has converged with the progress of China's reform and opening-up. All the challenges, difficulties and opportunities have provided Kunqu Opera new chances to be popularized. It also encourages us to keep learning and move on.
