leung george kin (2 Ergebnisse)

pp. xii, 147, (iii) blank. Frontispiece portrait, included in pagination. Original brown cloth lettered in gilt on the front cover and spine, a very good copy.

First edition, first printing, of this biographical portrait of Mei Lanfang, one of the "greatest actors who ever performed on the twentieth-century international stage" (Min, p. 1). Mei was a "nandan", a male actor specialising in female roles, whose performances were heralded globally by critics such as Stanislavski and Eisenstein. Born in the late Qing dynasty, Mei (1891-1964) inherited the mantle of his grandfather, Mei Qiaoling, who was also a renowned "nandan" (the most coveted role in a standard Chinese theatrical troupe). Aged seven, Mei began his training and, by the early Republican period, he had become one of China's most prominent performers on account of his exquisite singing and strikingly feminine appearance. His fame continued to grow as he embraced new theatrical artforms born out of both the May Fourth Movement and the introduction to China of Western proscenium arch theatre design. In the 1920s, he turned back to more traditional Chinese operatic forms emphasizing "patterned dance styles. integrated with conventionalized music consisting of prescribed singing, tunes, and melodies" (ibid., p. 7). He almost single-handedly established Peking Opera as China's national dramatic form and drove the revival of kunqu opera, ensuring his fame endures long past his death. The present work captures Mei's global influence at a time when his artistic legacy was already secure. It includes a biographical portrait of Mei's life on and off the stage, a descriptive catalogue of dramas he produced and performed, his career achievements, and details of his celebrity fans such as Tagore, the Crown Prince of Sweden, and the Acting Governor of Hong Kong. The text is extensively illustrated with images of Mei in various captivating "nandan" personas and in the company of his many Chinese and foreign admirers. An appendix offers a broader introduction to Chinese traditional theatre, with colour illustrations of the masks, head-dresses, props, and costumes employed in different dramas. The author, George Kin Leung, was a Chinese-American specialist in Chinese theatre who was also the first person to translate the works of Lu Xun into English. Overall, this is an attractively illustrated study of the doyen of traditional Chinese theatre and its strongest champion. Jackson Jowers 1684. Min Tian, Mei Lanfang and the Twentieth-Century International Stage: Chinese Theatre Placed and Displaced, 2012. Large octavo. Original cream card wrappers, front board lettered in silver and gilt with pink and silver plum blossoms. Frontispiece portrait of Mei Lanfang, 189 colour plates, 27 sanguine illustrations (4 folding). Wrappers lightly creased and toned, a few small faint stains on rear cover and edges, pastedowns consolidated, couple of pencil marks internally, else bright. A very good copy.