Opera. which is only now beginning to close. In recent years. hundreds of Peking Opera groups have sprung up
Yet it seems to suit the kind of fiction dealing with a country which
There are over 1000 pckmg open, I long pause before he answers John : spoke about his novels particularly _ plays. of which only 8 were allowed (‘leese. and adds. ‘I think I do the j The War of the End‘ofihe World and to see the light ofday during the ‘ stuff that nobody else will touch. Auntluha and the .Scriptieriter. two Cultural RCVOIUUOW imd the“ only llappilv. though his name seems to tee ining books which have been When "immlng RCVQI‘UIJO'JMY l have dwindled in popular memory. tagged as ‘magic realism‘. a term he mm“ and homes“ Ihc “35"”! .Wus a l ' . ' finds tisefiil though he isn‘t clear gap in the development ofl eking ! What it mums. |
:5 ' I. " _ Ii . throughout (‘hina.energetically VargasLlosuudmilfiifi ' {’f‘, ’ " i wooingbothperformersand simultaneouslyinthe Zflthcentury
and the Stone Age. "I‘he Middle Ages are still alive. You can walk back and forwards in history in Peru.’
have been somewhat cut off from the
tradition. The fact that the company are. 2 V "1"" ' visitingthe West isitselfindicative of ;
spectators among the young. who l
. ‘ . x \ \ x x . ( )t ‘ I a}; I the changes in present-day (,hina l > 11.“ Khulnrd {turf m l M an: o”) ‘ (hopefully theirtourwill be followed 5 t; hd‘mtlll‘u “ll All} mmde 0m“ by one of a Kunqu production of :5 to a dictionary of displaced writers. '3; Macbeth. which will provide 'g It was a natural stopover for a man , fascmating comparison with the ‘3 3 .1 r :4 , nurtured on Luropean literature but 5:2. austcft disciplined hum!) of {ht } his audience has been rcncwmg he felt he was losing touch With his 5'? recent Japanese r"lh"lpmducuon~ i itself. composed now of a large country and the nuances ofthe for "1959“ m 5““ t 1‘ ‘lmrl' numberof people whom ()twav language. 1“ pam- hc .diswvcrcw g As( hris Marshall poiiitsout. the ‘ ‘k e e l, W} H ,t ,h 5 ~ . . \ ,- , , .- .- .‘i ., TLC 011$”th MN KUH‘UUlUg I Latin-Americanliterature and g Peking ()pcrayisit proyit esan Wh‘ ‘R “I”: ‘ g H g ‘l v ‘d ‘ . . . '- intriguing windowthrough whichto ~ E” L“ .‘ r.“ ““5 TL “‘1” j “(Nilllglhllh l‘mmlllt “fin”! .It~s. more like ,1p,lnt()th.ln “h.” we glimpse Chinese culture and Chinese , BClOf‘C embarking on it lllll SCOIIlSh European but Penn-11m. His . c c c c . . , . . . ‘ ' . ‘s. I .- ‘ ‘ . . . . . ' would we as Open ‘Chm thinking: ‘ l heatre is very important ‘ tour In FLlWUdf).l1L s playing three identification with his country. a . . r. . . . . , ‘ , . . ' . .. . . . . _ ‘ ' Mars-ha" casts around for words to in ( hina — it s always performedat i nights (23—25 Oct) in Edinburgh s place whch mug-(m and unrwson explain the unique and exhilarating FCSI‘VMS and mumagc Ccrcm‘m‘cs _ ' 'l ht‘émc WOFkShOP- Of What WC Cim co-exist‘ persists and it was not so . I )x-. t' . " . " '~-. ‘- .. 3 H art of Peking Opera. «"1thfikttgféhof’srfitflfifm'fk‘jlof d CXPCCI from his stdgL Slit)“ . dll ht A long ago that he offered the Marshall is behind the company‘s PM?! ‘5 :12": will reveal is that ‘there's a lot of premiership of Peru. Perhaps he ‘3 BrmSh mu“ “’h'Ch~ “Sth Quccn 5 5, fl? -p ' - . "I . ‘ SCHlfOlding forme to climb around realised how precarious a position i visit focusses Western attention on I‘l-‘Lmdlmghudu‘w 1‘ Sho‘” 1?: 4” ~ , . . - . ... . . . l ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ . . .md 0 uhr cntcrt.iinnlcnt on . and that upcoming shows an. that might have been. but how did he . thechangingfaceofmodern(hina. ‘ p. p. ‘ . ‘ . . l .- , 3d. , ,df , .gbl, ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ . . ‘ .. y . ‘ e e , g . _ . . , . . “mm no icing \l cotape or a possi e . come to be offered it in the first l offers a rare opportunitvto seeon w “159%:qu hJPPl . . (.h ._ ' _ ‘l V _‘ - fl). ,‘ ._ . 3 “age a traditional (‘hin'cSC art form _ contradiction whatsoever. . flstmds ft LdSL. place. Magic realism . i and one that has m) equivalent in our It is also. in itself. indication of the I he venue. in which he s played for I . He is passionate about his art and 5 Western culture rekindled interest in traditional the last three Festivals. is indicative his enthusiasm for football. and the f It certainly isn't opera as we know “mum 1” modem ( hm“ ‘ m man} of the thespian interests he‘s been soap operas which Pedro (‘omacho.
ways then. the fascination of Peking
it. A stunningly visual. dynamic form pursuing .since his filmed partnership the diminutive hero of A untJulia.
3 oftheatre. incorporating music. of??? ‘f’15‘.‘,c§‘hc;‘{d§ well beyond I with Wild Willy Barrett dissolved. , writes. directs. produces and acts in. i ilCTOl?a[lC5~ Cflmcfi.“ mime and 528:1“; , i ("l'he way I prefer to look at it is that . They are. savs Vargos Llosa. ‘a Stall?” 1“"5- PPkmg 9P?” ‘ ‘ hidgfilrgllfoil (181% [9 0m iii/hm“. m we split up six times and reformed I Latih-American perversion’ which Cégfu?€;g)?nu:3§$n;gigittzgtrmf Chris Marshall of('art1iff . ‘ five.‘). though the only fruitsofhis manifests in excess. But when he 5 ancicn't tradimmal than“: Skim Laboratory flieatre andl)r William acting career so far have been small lectures in Scotland his topic will be dramas and [cchni ucs_ The result 001b," 0/ [Edinburgh U’“"¢”«"”,“- parts in fV programmes and ‘Fiction and 'Reality in . . ‘ ! can range fmmkm. m)“, farce m ‘ commerCials.‘ Latin-American Literature‘ which if ; high an _ or a combination of the two l . It's no surprise then that he‘s got his conversation is anything to go by, - — dependingon the story. Technical . i the urge to make it on to the silver will show that ‘literature is not 5 perfection. however. is uniformly . screen. ‘I think my natural role is to - historv or sociology. It’s alive.‘ ! expected? erfiirmerstraining , H H H ‘ H . ‘ be a film star. I'd like to be a John (Alani'l'aylor) ' i V “Ill IT? I I‘m} 5 ho“. Wayne type character. The sort you .r'l/lario Vargas l.losa will give the Neil ‘ virtuosity uni} 5km ()“his‘ the you LC 1 L d “551% L mdn JUSIkIl()W as soon as they come on to (:unn Lecturetn Lecture Ila/1A.
national poking ()pcm tmupc left Who' “5 halfof the Crazy partnersmp i the screen.‘ Dai'ltl Hume Tower. (ieorge Square.
‘ critics reeling at the Dublin 'I‘hcutrc . (’H‘mn OtWi‘Y and Wlld Wm." . l low about the new James Bond lz'tlinhurgh at 6pm Frill ()ct. Tickets . Festival recently. while decades ago‘ , BHTTCIL hmutlhl {he World 5110“ then'.’ are ai'ailalilefreefrotn the Scottish 2 the greatest exponent of Peking madcap gems "l [ingll-‘h “’Ck . "I'hat‘s it. yeah . . . a clumsy James Arts Council.
Opera this century. Mei Lanfang. whimsy 35 Really Free. and 1 Bond.‘ (Mab)
made an unforgettable and ‘l leadbutts‘. As it turns out he‘s '
l . g . ‘ g. _ . . John ()IH'LJIV is at Edinburgh Theatre formative impression on not only I qu1ctund regigncd to his rule 353 A Works/mp [ram 23425 0“
Chad“ C hy‘ipl'n' . . submissive nature anyone could _ Most Peking Opera stories have v '
g 8 their mots in ancient Chinese ' acquire afteryearsol working With a ' 3 folklore and traditional tales. Two of ~ man “'hoscunt'cson‘m‘g“ “mm” g . those on Show in Edinburgh. Havoc ‘ lived up to his nickname. i Asked if he would describe himself g f in Heaven and The Monkey King. ; Otwayhimselfisn'ieiiiirely a wild T asthe‘Melvyn Bragg ofthe Andes‘. 5()() Years On follow the exploits of and crazy guy. though. ‘No. i Mario Vargas Llosa. the Scottish i 5
an CffCTVCSCCDl. immortal mischief eccentric. [don‘t mind being called [\ns (‘Ouncil‘s 1986 (7}unn 2
maker in (‘hinese mythology — the Monkey King. a hugely popular character with children. In Havoc in Heaven the Monkey King raises the
an “English Eccentric". I‘m quite happy to have any tag they‘ll give me.‘ Similarly. he doesn‘t profess
Fellow. asked ‘Who is Melvyn Bragg.” Enlightened. he referred to the making of a Peruvian television
m. M thc King of Heaven by ‘ any serious underlying message in programme titled ‘The Tower of gaicemshingufcu51_amm{gstmhcr his work. insisting that his shows are I Babel‘ in which he attempted to things— and a huge battle ensues. ; purely entertainment. ‘Well. I m t show that culture needn‘t be boring.
conducted through bouts of single-handed combat which become like comic routines that Chris
I someone who can't take life He smilesa lot. a beaming smile.
I seriously. so I can't really take and he talks enthusiastically and i ' playing live seriously. can 1'." When easily. only occasionally scanning his Marshall graphically pinpoints as ‘a l
asde who makes him laugh. apart mind for the elusive English cross between kung fu and slapstick.‘
from the television News. there’s a translation of his native Spanish. He l
The List 17 — 30 October 1