Peking Opera

The White Snake  Peking Opera Theater of China  The Unicorn Purse  Ye Zhulin  Orphan of Zhao Family  Yu Kuizhi  Li Shengsu   It's been half a century since Peking Opera Theater of China was set up to serve Peking Opera fans. To celebrate its golden anniversary, the troupe will hold a series of concerts, highlighting both traditional plays and newly adapted works. Both promising and senior Peking Opera performers will sing excerpts of traditional, ancient operas and modern works. The theater has accumulated the best artists and playwrights. The most prominent work of the series, Chun Hua Qiu Shi (Blossoms in Spring and Fruit in Fall), consists of three themed chapters, each of which will remind audiences of special moments in the last 50 years.  First Chapter, Extraordinary Days Extraordinary Ages will reconstruct the traditional Peking Opera plays produced in the 50s and 60s. The chapter is composed of Daxue Piao by famous artist Yu Kuizhi, Jiu Jiangkou by Yang Chi and Jiang Qihu, Chen Sanliang Patang by Li Haiyan, The Garden by Diao Li, The White Snake  by Zhang Wei and some others. Through the adaptions in this chapter, the artists try to give a full picture of the flavor of Peking Opera art as it was in this era.  Chapter Two, Red Classics This chapter will bring audiences to the warring period that inspired by playwrights familiar to a generation of fans. Plays such as Red Lantern by Geng Qiaoyun, Die Lian Hua by Yu Jun, Baimaonu by Li Hongmei will lead audiences to the time when battles were on and blood was flowing.  Chapter Three, The Bright Future Zhang Huoding will present a series of newly created Peking Opera plays in this chapter, such as Turandot by Dengmin and Hongmei Zan. The 50th anniversary of Peking Opera Theater of China finds the artists deeply engaged in rehearsals.  Troupe One, Yu Kuizhi Yu Kuizhi, chief of Troupe One, has three rehearsals in the morning. Except for a lunch break, Yu's day is spent in the rehearsal hall. Yu will also lead Troupe One to visit Taiwan in December. It has been an annual activity, with the group well accepted on Taiwan's stages. Troupe One features traditional plays. Yu feels confident of his troupe's future. "We show the traditional plays in our own style. Besides, we have the excellent Peking Opera artists who are students of opera masters of past generations," Yu says. "These are our outstanding sources. Traditional and classics are our trademarks."  Troupe Three, Deng Jianguo Deng Jianguo, chief of Troupe Three, pays great attention to the cultivation of young performers. He has invited many old artists to provide instruction to the young performers face to face and word for word, which has allowed great progress in the younger Peking Opera generation. But such cultivation is not based on mere education. Actually, Deng encourages the young to perform while studying Peking Opera and provides chances for them. And the old artists Deng invites can perform in shows at any given time, which makes it possible for the young to perform with the old and gain rich stage experience through the shows.  Peking Opera Studio, Zhang Huoding The studio was set up last April with only 10 people, four Peking Opera singers and six musical instrument players. The studio targets the local stages across China. Even though it is a small group, the studio has stopped in provinces over nearly half of China. By collaborating with local troupes, the studio has become quite popular among local audiences. Some show organizers and local culture organizations have directly come to Zhang and talked about the future cooperation with the studio. "Our goal is to lead Peking Opera southwards, to Guangdong Province and Hainan Province, the most southern provinces in China and find a market for it there." Zhang claims.

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