Ministry of Culture-iMedia

The Sorceress Bride

臺灣豫劇團
This play was nominated for the 9thTaishin Arts Awards. The subject matter combines myths and aboriginal legends to describe the life of the sorceress of theHuapapeople, Meijin. Despite her high status among thetribe’s people, Meijin feels lonely because she is denied the right of romance ordinary people enjoy. One day, a wrongfully accused Han man,Qu Yan, with a criminal’s tattoo on his face, flees to the Huapa tribe. The middle-aged pair fall in love with each other. The criminal’s tattoo on Qu Yan’s face is a disgrace. However, Meijin regards it as “the eyes of mountain hawk,” symbolic of a warrior. Since ancient times, however, the ancestors had cautioned the Huapa people never to get involved with other tribesmen, or else the entire tribe would suffer a fatal doom. With the fate of the tribe pending, the romance between Meijin and Qu Yan undergoes a critical challenge. The playwright Shi Ru-fang holds the sorceress responsible for the perpetuation of the tribe, just as in reality, the leading actress, Wang Hai-ling, considers performing her inherent mission, single-handedly preserving the Henan Bangzi Opera art. This play not only glorifies the sorceress, but also salutes the versatile theater queen Wang Hai-ling. The play also boasts the addition of Taiwan’s leading sheng actor of Beijing Opera, Cao Fu-yong, who is cast as Qu Yan. The two break the standards of performance as they dramatize the pure and mellow middle-aged romance on a stage of fictive background.