Ma Lan (born 23 April 1962) is a famous Chinese performing artist of Huangmei opera

Huangmei Opera

Huangmei opera or Huangmei tone originated as a form of rural folksong and dance that has been in existence for the last 200 years and possibly longer. The music is performed with a pitch that hits high and stays high for the duration of the song...

, known as a national first-level actor. She is the only person to date to have been awarded both the national highest stage performance prize and the TV Show Prize.

Biography

Ma Lan was born in Taihu County

Taihu County

Taihu County is a county in Anhui Province, People's Republic of China under the jurisdiction of Anqing City. It has a population of 560,000 and an area of . The seat of government is located in Jingxi Town....

, Anhui

Anhui

Anhui is a province in the People's Republic of China. Located in eastern China across the basins of the Yangtze River and the Huai River, it borders Jiangsu to the east, Zhejiang to the southeast, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei to the southwest, Henan to the northwest, and Shandong for a tiny...

 in 1962, and graduated from Anhui Acting Performance School in 1975, where she majored in the performance of Huangmei opera. Succeeding in her first debut in 1980, she later created some vivid portrayals of famous characters, such as the artist Zhang Yuliang

Pan Yuliang

Pan Yuliang, born Zhang Yuliang , was an award-winning Chinese painter, renowned as the first woman in the country to paint in the Western style. She had studied in Shanghai and Paris. Because her modernist works caused controversy and drew severe criticism in China during the 1930s, Pan returned...

, Jia Baoyu

Jia Baoyu

Jia Baoyu is the principal character in the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber.- Introduction :The first chapter describes how one piece of stone was left over from when the heaven was repaired by the Goddess Nüwa...

 in Dream of Red Chamber, Zhu Yingtai in the Butterfly Lovers

Butterfly Lovers

The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend of a tragic love story of a pair of lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai , whose names form the title of the story...

, the Cloud Flower Princess in the Dragon Daughter, Yan Fengying in Yan Fengying, and Cui Yingying in Romance of the Western Chamber. In 1987 she won the Plum Blossom Prize

Plum Blossom Prize

The Plum Blossom Prize , sometimes translated as the Plum Blossom Award, is the highest theatrical award in China...

, and in 1988 she won the Golden Eagle Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Yan Fengying. Most of her performances are still considered as among the best examples of the art of Huangmei opera.

Acting style

Ma Lan is not only a talented actor who has a solid foundation in basic skills, but is also expert at making an uncommon and beautiful stage figure. Her beautiful singing and clear, poetic diction helps to release the inner world of the characters, leaving a memorable impression on the audience.

Awards and Activities

In 1986 Man Lan won the Chinese Plum Award of drama and in 1988 the CCTV Gold Eagle Award.She was also rewarded the Flying Goddess Award for best actress in the same year.
Her role of Li Bicui in the adapation of Shakespeare's drama Much Ado about Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....

is not only vivid but also brilliant. No matter at the first China's Shakespeare's drama festival or other invitational show, Man Lan's wonderful performance are highly appreciated by both audience and experts. Those kinds of activities contribute a lot to her winning of the Chinese Plum Award of drama.