Opera festival starts with tragic love story

One of the most well-known Yueju Operas is Dream of the Red Chamber, based on a novel of the same name written by Cao Xueqin during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

According to director Du, the reason why Yueju Opera was used to tell the story of Ruan is because the art form is known for portraying female characters, mainly tragic, beautiful and graceful, and telling love stories.

Ruan was born in Shanghai in 1910, the hub at that time of the Chinese film industry. She started her movie career at 16 acting in the Chinese movie, Husband and Wife in Name, in 1926. She performed in about 30 movies and committed suicide at just 25 after the tabloid press bombarded her private life.

"When I read the script, I was soon captivated by Ruan and her tragic life. She was a movie star and is considered as China's Greta Garbo. She was also a woman, very pure and innocent, who was torn by love," says Du, who is pursuing her master's degree as a director at the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. Yang Minning, a student of the same school, wrote the script for the Yueju Opera, Ruan Lingyu.

Born in Qingdao, Shandong province, Du was introduced to Chinese operas by her grandfather, who not only enjoyed listening to Chinese operas but was also an amateur performer. Du studied acting at the middle school affiliated to the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts at 14 and later obtained her bachelor's degree at the university's directing department in 2019.

Ruan had three important men in her life: her puppy love Zhang Damin, tycoon Tang Jishan and director Cai Chusheng. The romance of the actress is portrayed in the Yuejue Opera production, which showcases the tragedy of Ruan behind her glamorous movie-star image.