Leading lady takes on star role

Veteran scriptwriter Luo Huaizhen, who has been working with the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre for about 25 years, adapted the story of Lady Xu Mu and interpreted it through Kunqu Opera.

"The role, Lady Xu Mu, was written for Wei Chunrong in particular. Though she has played many classic roles, she needs one which could represent her exclusively and take her career to the next level," says Luo. "The story of Lady Xu Mu is rarely told in theatrical productions. She was a princess and later became a wife and a mother. Besides her responsibility to her own family, she also shouldered some responsibility for her home country.

"The character is more than that of a beautiful woman, commonly presented in Kunqu Opera productions. She is very independent and loyal to her home country, especially when it is attacked by the enemy," Luo adds. "Wei did a great job of interpreting the role."

Luo also elaborates the title of the production, Guo Feng, which is a combination of two Chinese words: guo referring to "country" and feng meaning "demeanor".

"Compared to classic Kunqu Opera productions, which usually portray romance, this production delivers the spirit of a woman, who loves, and is devoted to, her country," says director Cao Qijing, who worked with Wei when the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre staged A Dream of Red Mansions, adapted from the classic novel with the same name by Cao Xueqin in the 18th century, in London in 2012.

Born and raised in Beijing, Wei was introduced to Kunqu Opera by her grandmother, who sent her to a local art school to learn the old art form. Since her parents both worked abroad back then, her grandmother took care of Wei and her younger sister.

"I knew nothing about Kunqu Opera. I was told that I was recruited because of my 'big and expressive' eyes," Wei recalls.

She adds that she lived in that school, which offered her a great environment to learn Kunqu Opera. She received intensive and rigid training, and six years later, she became an actress of the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre.