China National Peking Opera Company

13/6 (Thu) 7:30pm

 The Boar Forest

Based on the classic novel The Water Margin, The Boar Forest is an iconic work of Peking Opera master Li Shaochun. In the celebrated Drifting Snowstorm passage set in an icy and desolate forest, Lin Chong expresses his solitude, desperation and longing for his family. Music and text are perfectly matched both dramatically and poetically, exemplifying the aesthetics of ‘emotional depiction through scenic description’ in Chinese Opera.

On the eve of the Northern Song dynasty, Grand Commandant Gao Qiu’s son Gao Shide covets the wife of Lin Chong, drill master of the 800 000 Imperial Guards. They frame Lin into bringing a sword into the military compound’s White Tiger Hall, where weapons are explicitly forbidden. Wrongfully accused, he is exiled to Cangzhou, and along the way, his guards (having received Gao’s bribe) attempt to murder Lin in the Boar Forest. Fortunately, their plot fails and Lin is saved by Lu Zhishen. In Cangzhou, Lin is in charge of a fodder field, but Gao Qiu sends his men to set the place on fire and murder Lin, who has seen through the plot. Lin kills the perpetrators, then escapes to Liangshan with Lu.

Main Cast: Yu Kuizhi, Li Shengsu, Yang Chi (Guest), Du Zhe, Wang Jue, Hu Bin, Chen Guosen, Ma Xiangfei, Wei Jiaging, Liu Bo, Liu Kuikui
The role of Lin Chong will be co-played by Yu Kuizhi abd Du Zhe. Du Zhe will perform in White Tiger Hall and Road to Exile.

The running time of the performance is approximately 3 hours including an intermission of 15 minutes.

14/6 (Fri) 7:30pm

 The Great Beauty Xi Shi

This 1923 masterpiece, with a script by Luo Yinggong, bears testament to Mei Lanfang’s innovations in the classic genre of Peking Opera. To enrich the emotional effect of the instrumental ensemble, Mei added the erhu. Renowned vocal passages such as I Was Born and Bred in Zhuluo Village and Autumn Arrives with the Wind on the Water are profoundly elegant in portraying the refined aura of the educated class. The final passage sung by Xi Shi and Fan Li (My Country Is Safe, My Worries Cease) combines music with intricate movement, depicting a poetic landscape. This performance condenses Mei Lanfang’s original while adding new elements, sustaining the qualities that distinguish this work.

Fu Chai, King of Wu, is intent on conquering the kingdom of Yue, causing tremendous suffering to Gou Jian and his people. Yue Minister Fan Li devises a ‘honey trap’, persuading Xi Shi to enter the Wu court and become a spy. Xi Shi is successful in beguiling Fu Chai, encouraging him neglect his duties. Fu Chai even kills Prime Minister Wu Yuan for daring to speak up. When Gou Jian returns to Yue, he chooses to sleep on a pile of firewood, tasting bitter gall to remind himself of his humiliation. Eventually, Xi Shi and Fan Li carry out a plot that leads to the demise of Wu. Instead of staying for the Yue victory parades, the two decide to lead a reclusive life as they sail into a lake.

Main Cast: Li Shengsu, Yu Kuizhi, Wang Yue, Hu Bin, Ma Xiangfei, Wang Jue, Chen Xuzhi, Liu Yang

The running time of the performance is approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes including an intermission of 15 minutes.

15/6 (Sat) 7:30pm

 Mu Guiying Taking Command

At age 65, Peking Opera master Mei Lanfang adapted from Yu Opera Mu Guiying Taking Command, his final landmark work capping four decades of tremendous artistry. The middle-aged Mu Guiying embodies characteristics of qingyi (virtuous female) and female warrior roles, encompassing such attributes as steadfast, melancholic, demure, vigorous, valiant and adroit, as her evolving thoughts and her demeanour are fully displayed through movement and percussion patterns. All of these are proof of yet new heights in the art of Mei Lanfang.

During the Northern Song dynasty, the Xixia ruler leads an uprising. Having exhausted its imperial armies, the Song court summons Mu Guiying to take command. Mu is apprehensive, vexed by the court’s indifference and the conspiracies of evil ministers against her family. Upon hearing her grandmother-in-law’s exhortations, Mu sets aside her personal doubts to defend her country. Together with her husband Yang Zongbao and children Yang Wenguang and Yang Jinhua, they lead their warriors to battle.

Main Cast: Li Shengsu, Yu Kuizhi, Zhang Jing, Du Zhe, Hu Bin, Han Fuchao, Dai Zhongyu, Pan Yuejiao, Liu Kuikui, Chen Guosen, Wang Jue

The running time of the performance is approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes including an intermission of 15 minutes.

Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company

17/6 (Mon) 7:30pm

 Water Nymph of Sizhou City

A virtuosic play that highlights the female warrior, including a dazzling display of acrobatic and combat skills.

At the Rainbow Bridge in Sizhou, a water nymph falls in love with a mortal – Bai Tingxun – and they marry. When she floods Sizhou, the god Erlang and his warriors descend from Heaven to punish her for breaking celestial law. Since the nymph has given her magic pearl to Bai as her token of love, she is in danger. Despite immense risk on his life, Bai returns the pearl to the nymph and she wins the battle.

Main Cast: Yang Yanan, Hao Jie, Liu Xiao, Xie Tianci, Lu Jianliang, Zhu Heji, Zhang Chenchen

 Chisang Town

A traditional work pitting painted-face against old female roles, it is a true test of vocal skills covering a wide range of tune-types.

Orphaned at a young age, Bao Zheng is reared by his sister-in-law Wu Miaozhen, whose son Bao Mian has become a corrupt magistrate in Xiaoshan. Justice Bao Zheng later sentences his cousin to decapitation. Wu rushes to Chisang Town to reprimand Bao Zheng for being ungrateful and disloyal to his family. Bao Zheng responds by defending fairness and justice, eventually winning her over.

Main Cast: Gao Mingbo, He Ting

 Vermilion Birthmark

A veritable showcase for laosheng (old male) noted for its vocal demands, it contains an extensive and virtuosic passage of erhuang.

Prefect Han Tingfeng, having separated from his family during an uprising, resigns and settles in a village. All alone and without an offspring, he decides to remarry. On the day of the wedding, he discovers that the bride has sold herself to save her ailing husband Wu Huiquan. Han gives her money and sends her home. After Wu recovers, he buys a child as a token of thanks to Han, who discovers a vermilion birthmark on the child’s left sole, thus reuniting with his own son Yuyin.

Main Cast: Wang Peiyu, Cai Xiaoying, Gu Liang, Li Wenwen, Tong Hang, Wang Dun

The running time of the performance is approximately 3 hours including an intermission of 15 minutes.

18/6 (Tue) 7:30pm

 Wu Song Fighting in the Tavern

A masterpiece belonging to the Gai Jiaotian tradition, it is best known for a fight in total darkness between Wu Song (military role) and Sun Erniang (female warrior role), a tightly choreographed ‘dance’ that is finely nuanced to match the adversaries’ changing emotions.

After Wu Song kills his sister-in-law and Ximen Qing, he is exiled to Mengzhou and stays overnight at the tavern owned by Zhang Qing and his wife Sun Erniang. That night, while Zhang is out, Erniang attempts to murder Wu but fails. In the nick of time, Zhang returns, recognising Wu as the hero who killed a tiger. Enmity is resolved.

Main Cast: Hao Shuai, Yang Yanan

 Su San Escorted to Trial and Trial by Three Magistrates from Yu Tang Chun

One of the most well-known Peking Operas, Yu Tang Chun is also distinguished by its demands on the female role. The scenes Su San Escorted to Trial and Trial by Three Magistrates have long been recognised as the embodiment of the work’s essence. Wearing a cangue, Su San’s restricted movements attest to the actor’s skill and artistry.

The courtesan Su San (Yu Tang Chun) and Wang Jinlong pledge their love. When Wang becomes destitute, Su San gives him money to return to Nanjing. Later, the procuress sells Su to the rich merchant Shen Yanlin as a concubine. Shen’s jealous wife, however, wants to poison her rival, but her husband drinks the poison by mistake and dies, with Su being sentenced to death by a corrupt provincial magistrate. A retrial is set and Su is escorted to Taiyuan, where one of the three magistrates in the retrial is Wang Jinlong, but his emotional reactions are noticed by the two magistrates and impede the proceedings.

Main Cast: Shi Yihong, Yang Nan, Wang Dun, Fu Xiru, Chou Yipin

The running time of the performance is approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes including an intermission of 15 minutes.

19/6 (Wed) 7:30pm

 Seven Heroes and Five Gallants

Created by the Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company in 1957, Seven Heroes and Five Gallants is adapted from the novel Three Heroes and Five Gallants. A tour de force of Shanghai-style Peking Opera for its elaborate staging and featuring the full range of roles, this work tests actors’ artistry and dramatic pacing. Heralded for its combat scenes featuring wusheng (military), wudan (female warrior), wuchou (military comic) roles, Seven Heroes and Five Gallants not only features Qi-style (Zhou Xinfang-style, also known by the stage name Qilin Tong) vocal passages, but also liantan that is distinctly Shanghai — seven actors share an extensive vocal passage, as the group tries to appease the rivalry between Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao is courted by the Song Emperor, moving to the capital where he is given a royal title of ‘Imperial Cat’, thus angering Bai Yutang, who wants to engage him in a duel. Bai steals into Kaifeng one night, taking three treasures from Bao Zheng, leaving a letter challenging Zhan Zhao to Xiankong Island to retrieve the items. Zhan goes to Xiankong Island and is trapped therein. Luckily, he is saved by Jiang Ping and the treasures are recovered. Bai is still angry, refusing to listen to the pleas of his fellow heroes and leaps onto the Dulong Bridge. Xu Qing destroys the bridge and Bai falls into the river. No one knows whether or not Bai survives...

Main Cast: Fu Xiru, Wu Xiangjun, He Shu, Gao Mingbo, Xie Tianci, Hao Jie, Lu Su, Wang Dun, Yang Yang, Yang Yanan, Yang Nan

The running time of the performance is approximately 3 hours including an intermission of 15 minutes.