I SAW a leap of such precision and a fall from an altar table with wonderful grace that has left my eyebrows still raised days later.
The skills of Taiwan's GuoGuang Opera Company troupe in 'Jingju Magic — Love & Bewilderment' drew resonant oohs and ahhs, and thunderous applause over the weekend at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre.
The performance of 'Guiying's Accusation of Wang Kuei at the Temple' was simply scintillating theatre.
With a sparse stage setting and a prop or two, actor Hsieh Le's portrayal of a wronged woman was charged with emotion as she pleaded to the Sea God for justice.
In making her case, she danced a dervish with long sleeves forming fan-like formations.
Then she leaped onto the altar table, landing in a cross-legged stance, and wailed to the god of the sea.
In her exquisite sorrow, she fainted off the table in a backward tilt, landing ever so gently on the stage floor in a full flat prostate pose.
The years of practice it must have taken for this 24-year-old actor to get that all just right, with no injury, in perfect timing to live music by three musicians tucked away in a corner of the stage!
Her lament in typical Chinese operatic high tone was moving.
She told her tale of being jilted by one Wang Kui who, despite promises, married into a rich, connected family.
This 11th-century tale is still popular with Chinese opera enthusiasts, but then who doesn't feel for a poor, jilted girl, eh?
The performance began with Guiying as a ghost, and her story was told through a flashback.
'Guiying's Accusation of Wang Kuei at the Temple' came after 'The Death of Zhou Yu', which is an excerpt from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
It was cleverly woven into the end of that first performance by a graveyard scene with Zhou Yu's wife mourning at his grave.
Along comes two protagonists from the Underworld, and they talk about why the god did not finish her off as a ghost, and thus Guiying's story enters the stage.
Nicely done, I thought. The whole performance was in Mandarin with succinct English and Mandarin surtitles.
The start of the show with 'The Death of Zhou Yu' showcased martial artist Huang Shih-hung's acrobatic skills.
In a battle with the opposing general, Zhang Fei, Huang wowed with somersaults, cartwheels, and even splits.
His costume topped by a headdress boasting two long plumed pheasant feathers was interesting since he could even make one of the feathers part of his delivery.
Alas, he dies in the end, wounded beyond help.
His wife, who without fail, religiously visited his grave, probably moved the gods with her loyal endeavour as the two were eventually reunited at the end.
The battle was told through mime, with easy-to-follow movements and artistic grace that kept reminding me of the traditional Malay mak yong art form.
When Zhou Yu was journeying to the battlefield, he rode an imaginary horse, and even the horse had to give in to weariness.
All this is told through his movements and that was effective enough as you see it through the imagination created on stage.
Such is the magic of theatre, an engaging and creative experience through and through.
In a post-show talk, director Peng Chun-kang spoke about the fire-breathing gimmick used by one of the actors.
He said it took much practice and had the mouth ulcers to prove it too!
Practice does make perfect, but the magic of theatre was delivered in a live, 90-minute show by Taiwan's celebrated GuoGuang Opera troupe in riveting brilliance.
The three shows, 'Double Bill of Jingju Magic', 'Avenging Zidu' and 'Zhuangzi Tests His Wife' will also be staged during the George Town Festival (GTF) at Dewan Budaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia, in Penang at 2.30pm on July 20 and 21.
For more details and tickets, visit www.cloudjoi.com.