Love is much like commerce, and often ends up bankrupting its participants. Much is put into it for often small returns, and with it come its sufferings, its perversions, and the ultimate lamentations. The luxurious ballet, Raise the Red Lantern, which had its last performance at Melbourne’s State Theatre on August 9, is of that ilk.

The bricks and mortar of the ballet are essentially those of Zhang Yimou’s 1991 film version, which caused something of a sensation with its dazzling yet cruel depiction of concubinage, patriarchy and fate. With assistance from Wang Xinpeng’s choreography, Zhang Yimou has translated his cinematic exploits into a graceful affair for the National Ballet of China. The audience is treated to a cultural fusion of folk traditions blended with classical ballet. A few numbers from the Peking Opera also figure. The entire performance is underpinned by Chen Qigang’s catchy musical score.

The China of the 1920s was a chaotic mess of political machination and stubbornly entrenched feudalism. The central girl in question, played by the superbly nimble Zhu Yang, is sold to be the third companion of an older Lord, played by Cui Kai. Red lanterns are lit outside the home of one of the master’s wives each night, announcing his presence and who he favours for that night. With such a formula, jealousy seems inevitable. The second concubine (Meng Ningning), possessing much of it, exposes the new arrival’s fancy for a Peking Opera actor, played by Huang Zheng. In a fit of rage, madness consumes, and the master condemns all three to death.

Criticisms may well be levelled by the ballet expert at the choreography. Previous reviews have noted the limited repertoire of steps between heroine and lover in their pas de deux. Various other additions also seem idiosyncratic, though they do much to keep the audience interested. Simulated, vigorous mahjong displays, after which the dancers perch on the tables produce nervous laughter from the audience. The sexual assault is more effective, reminiscent of Zeus in pursuit of Leda. The rape of the heroine by the master is figured as a shadow play – we realise she is doomed to the bed of her assailant. She seeks to escape, and both hunter and quarry perforate the white screen in their tussle. She emerges from the exercise oddly composed.

Nuance is also lacking at stages. Discipline and clarity may are the hallmarks of this display, but rendering the life of sexual intrigue to stage surely demands more mazes and riddles. An attempt is made in the second act, though it comes off slightly awkwardly. The scene of forgiveness in the second act, in which the second concubine seeks to redeem herself before the lovers, seems a trifle odd, if redundant in the face of what befalls them.

There are moments of inspiration. Like lilies over water, the female members of the National Ballet of China seem to glide and float. The most functional items are executed with lithe effortlessness. Even the ‘lighting’ of the lanterns proves to be an exquisite ritual, though this does seem a touch mechanical after a time. The male guards exhibit a robust power, muscular and brutal in contrast to their weightless female counterparts. They are true instruments of fate, registering the final lethal blows to the three victims with the use of red flails turning a white screen into strokes of blood-red. ‘Snow’ eventually descends on the dead at the ballet’s end, the good interred in their bones. A packed house went hope suitably impressed.

Binoy Kampmark was a Commonwealth Scholar at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He currently lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. Email: bkampmark@gmail.com

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