Borrowing the Fan: An Example of Actable Plays (Zhezixi) for the Kunqu Stage

The conventional view of kunqu as an elite form of traditional Chinese theatre has left its legacy of live performance and the performers' efforts and creativity to keep kunqu alive onstage overlooked. Borrowing the Fan (Jieshan) provides a living and popular example of actable plays (zhezixi), plays created by performers that rework selected scenes from texts of the playwrights and turn them into standalone pieces that are actable, complete in themselves, and exciting to watch in performance. The translation is based upon the version shaped and performed by Wang Zhiquan and her colleagues of the Shanghai Kunqu Theatre Troupe (Shanghai Kunju Tuan). With her training in the female martial art role type (wudan), Wang has created a version that not only capitalizes on her virtuoso skills but also develops new and inventive ways of performing that push her and her stage partner to attain a higher level of artistic achievement and bring freshness and excitement to the stage performance of the play.