You must have read or heard of the sad love story between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu.But can you imagine the two singing opera in English instead of speaking poetic(有诗意的) Chinese?
Jia and Lin are two characters from the classic Chinese novel A Dream of Red Mansions(《红楼梦》 ), written by Cao Xueqin
Many of the opera’s creators have backgrounds in both Chinese and American cultures, including the director and playwrights( 剧作家 ).Their understanding of both cultures helped them to change a Chinese classic into a foreign-language opera.
The book, which covers the rise and fall of the Jia family, has 120 chapters and hundreds of characters. But the opera writer David Henry Hwang reduced the number of characters to just seven. Hwang, a Chinese-American, focused on the love story between Jia and Lin and tried to write a heartbroken tragedy that everyone would understand.
The art director Timmy Yip, from Hong Kong, tried to help foreign people understand the characters using costurnes(服装)and stage settings(布景).He compared Lin to water and gave her a light green costurne. When Lin shows up on the stage, there is usually water around her on the stage.
The creators consider it to be a meaningful job to introduce a Chinese classic to Western audience. Hwang told China Daily he was happy to “have made a contribution to the land where my parents were born”.
【小题1】 wrote the opera for the Chinese classic novel A Dream of Red Mansiorns.| A．Lin Daiyu | B．Cao Xueqin |
| C．Jia Baoyu | D．David Henry Hwang |
| A．The language used. | B．The sad love story. |
| C．The number of characters. | D．The whole family’s story. |
| A．喜剧 | B．悲剧 | C．科幻剧 | D．生活剧 |
| A．they had backgrounds in Western culture |
| B．they thought the book was not good enough |
| C．they hoped to help others learn English |
| D．they wanted Westerners to know about the Chinese novel |
| A．A Dream of Red Mansions |
| B．Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu Sing Foreign Opera |
| C．The Sad Love Story between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu |
| D．David Henry Hwang’s Opera |
