Chinese Opera.(Review)(Brief Article)

Chinese Opera by Jessica 55n Gudnason, with text by Gong Li. Abbeville Press, 152 pp. $85

This sumptuous coffee-table book differs from other tomes on Chinese opera by providing page after colorful page of 10"x13" portraits of actors in full stage regalia. Renowned film actress Gong Li introduces the photos with a succinct history of Chinese opera, with helpful descriptions of the various character roles, as defined by costume and makeup.

Going through the book, one clutches at these descriptions, since the photos unfold unaided by captions. Instead, there is a black-and-white thumbnail photo index at the end, with unevenly illuminating details and specifications of the photographic processes involved. The format proves rather cumbersome as one struggles to keep one's place while going back and forth for information about each image.

Photographer Jessica Tan Gudnason, who has been fascinated by Chinese opera since childhood, obviously loves and respects ...