Opera Opportunities

The Foreign Student Centre's stern matriarch, Teacher Yang, intercepted me on the stairs rushing to class.

"There's a trip to the Opera next week. Are you going?"

I nodded.

"Well, the theatre has offered to give a few students make-up, dress them up. How about it? It'll be fun! Besides, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!" she said with uncharacteristic cheer.

I was hesitant, but thought back to the slogan pinned up on the Centre's noticeboard:

机不可失，时不再来

It was the Chinese equivalent of carpe diem - Opportunities cannot be forgone, time lost will never return.

I sighed hoping I wouldn't regret this.

"Sure. What do I need to do?"

A teacher came to fetch us, a good two hours before showtime, and we took three taxis to the practically-named 黑龙江省京剧院, or Heilongjiang Province Peking Opera House.

We were led backstage where a good two dozen performers and stagehands were already busying themselves getting ready for the show.

Periodically, someone would come fetch one of us and sit us down in a vacant corner. Finally it was my turn. A severe man I presumed was the director barked at A Guy About My Age to take me and make me up as an 武生 - the warrior, and main hero role!

Using his left hand as a palette, AGAMA daubed my face with various unctuous balms, powders and oils, occasionally pulling out a tiny brush and dabbing away expertly at a particularly tricky corner.

I was too far from a mirror to see what was going on, so resigned myself to my fate. It was just like getting a haircut, just with much more complicated instructions. As AGAMA worked, I grilled him about his career.

"Lean forward!"

He informed me that he'd been studying Peking Opera for eleven years, since the age of 14. I marveled. I didn't have the drive to do anything for as long as eleven years.

"Lean all the way back!"

AGAMA lamented the decline in popularity of his art form in recent years, particularly among the young.

"Close your eyes!"

AGAMA laughed and said that the Asian bone structure was a lot easier to apply make-up for. The Russian student he'd just finished with had come out all wrong.

"Now look up!"

Before long I was done. I rushed over to the mirror to have a look.

"Great! I could get used to this!" I said to noone in particular. I liked the eyeliner, but could do without the lipstick. Still, I was impressed by the transformation.

In the absence of any further instructions, I took a peek at the performance from the wings...

... before wandering around and bothered everyone else.

Anna had been made up as a 旦, Peking Opera's female role. She laughed as she told me that the woman doing her makeup had muttered the whole time about "How to hide this foreigner's huge nose", but the overall effect wasn't too bad at all.

Next, I had a look at a pair of performers working on turning a schoolmates into a 净 - the painted face male role. Being of darker complexion, the two performers pointed and giggled uncontrollably as they told me that they hadn't bothered to apply the black undercoat.

We were due out during the interval. With minutes to go, an elite squad of performers and helpers hustled us through the dressing up process in a matter of seconds.

While Anna was taught to say a few lines about the 旦 role, a 净 taught the two HIT 净 some basic movements.

Then it was showtime.

We filed out in our colourful and intricate costumes, and the theatre director cracked a few jokes...

... before encouraging us to perform like his own personal team of circus monkeys. I got to do a little dance...


... and then it was all over. We rushed down to the front of the stage to catch the rest of the performance, which was dominated by stylised fighting and 武术 tricking.

Afterwards, I was still so excited from the experience that I kept on my makeup for far longer than was reasonable. Here I am on the bus back to school!