21-23 August 2009 (Fri-Sun) 7:30pm
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Tickets: $280, 160

Temporary Closure of Subway Access to the Hong Kong Cultural Centre

21-22 August 2009 (Fri-Sat)
Peking Opera Jin Yunu

23 August 2009 (Sun)
Excerpts
Resecuing His Sister at the Bright Sun Mansion (Peking Opera)
Li Kui Visits His Mother  (Peking Opera)
Pursuing the Dream and The Portrait from The Peony Pavilion (Kunqu Opera)

Main Cast: Tang Yuen-ha, Geng Tianyuan, Wang Yujin, Zheng Shaohua, Zhang Liming, Chen Chen, Jin Zhiyong, Qiu Xiujuan

Lyrics and dialogue with Chinese and English surtitles

21-22 August 2009 (Fri-Sat)

Peking Opera Jin Yunu
Jin Yunu is the pretty and innocent daughter of Jin Song, the leader of the beggar gang. One snowy day, she sees Mo Ji, a penniless young scholar, who has fainted outside her home from hunger.  She offers him soy bean milk to revive him.  She is attracted to Mo because he is an intellectual.  Seeing that, her father asks Mo if he will marry into his family and become his son-in-law.

The father and daughter accompany Mo all the way to the capital to attend the national civil examination.  Jin Song even begs along the way to pay for the expenses on the road.  Mo passes the examination, and is appointed the Mayor of Dehua in Jiangxi.  The Jin father and daughter have hardly congratulated themselves for a dream fulfilled than Mo reveals his real character.  He had only consented to marrying Yunu because he was down and out.  But now, as a titled scholar, he thinks Yunu is a disgrace to his position.  When the three are on a boat sailing to Jiangxi, Mo uses his father-in-law like a servant.  He pushes Yunu overboard amidst a storm, orders her father to get off the boat, and sails off without them.   

It so happens that the new Civil Governor of Jiangxi, Sir Lin, and his wife have just lost their daughter.  When they find Yunu in the river, they take her on board.  After finding out the cause of her misfortune, they offer to adopt her as their daughter.  Order is also sent out to find Jin Song along the riverbanks.

Sir Lin feels that since Mo is also trained in the Confucian teachings, there is hope that he can make Mo take back Yunu as wife by giving him a good lesson.  He sends out word that he has a daughter who is looking for a husband. The ecstatic Mo falls into the trap, only to discover that Yunu is alive on their wedding night.  The shock makes him tell the whole truth.  Then in order to keep his official position, he pretends to be the loving husband once more.  The maids and the servants are totally disgusted with his hypocritical ways.  On the pretext that it is a local custom, they beat him up. 

In the bridal chamber, Sir Lin and Lady Lin try to console Yunu, but she has seen through Mo's ruthless character and refuses to be reunited with him.  Touched by Yunu's honesty, Sir Lin removes Mo's title and position, and reports what he has done to His Majesty for decision.  Yunu and her father want to return home, but the Lin's have grown so fond of their adopted daughter that they invite the two to stay and live with them.

Main Cast: Tang Yuen-ha, Geng Tianyuan, Wang Yujin, Zheng Shaohua, Cheng Shuping, Sun Weian, Qiu Xiujuan, Mao Yufeng

23 August 2009 (Sun)
Excerpts

Resecuing His Sister at the Bright Sun Mansion (Peking Opera)
The story is taken from the famous Chinese novel, The Water Margin. Gao Deng is the spoilt son of Gao Qiu, the corrupt prime minister at the Song court.  Backed by his father's powerful influence, he tyrannizes their native town. At a temple fair, he sees a young girl and abducts her.  Her elder brother, Xu Shiying, is hot in pursuit when he meets three young men on the way. They happen to be the sons of members of the rebel force on Liangshan.  When they hear of the Xus' plight, they are indignant and vow to help him find his sister.  At night, they steal into the Gao Residence (the Bright Sun Mansion), save his sister, and kill Gao Deng. 

Main Cast: Zhang Liming, Pang Huanliang, Sun Kai, Xu Changsheng

Li Kui Visits His Mother (Peking Opera)
The story is taken from the famous Chinese novel, The Water Margin.  The rebel heroes gather at Liangshan.  When the leader, Song Jiang, notices that Li Kui misses his aging mother very much, he gives Li permission to make a home visit.  Overjoyed, Li quickly returns to his native place, only to find that his mother, her hair turning all grey, can no longer see him – she has been crying so much since her son was gone that she has become blind.  The devastated Li decides to bring his mother back to the mountain homestead on Liangshan so he would be by her side always.

Main Cast: Chen Chen, Jin Zhiyong


Pursuing the Dream and The Portrait  from The Peony Pavilion (Kunqu Opera)
Du Liniang is the daughter of the Prefect of Nan'an.  As her father is a very strict parent, she has been confined to the boudoir of her home.  One spring day, she goes to the garden with her maid, Chunxiang.  As she sees the beautiful spring scene, her amorous heart is awakened.  After returning to her boudoir, she takes a nap and dreams of having a love affair with a handsome scholar. She wakes up and the scenes in her dream remain vivid in her mind, so much so that she finds she has to return to the garden to revisit every detail at the Peony Pavilion.  Since she is there all alone, she can let her deepest yearnings for love surface, and enjoy every dreamy moment that has seemed so real.  But a dream is, after all, a dream.  The sudden realization pains her and makes her downhearted, and she leaves the garden dejectedly.

With the spring scene fading away, Du Liniang feels restless.  She has been pining for love, but what she has is only the amorous dream she had in the garden.  Slowly she wastes away. Her maid, Chunxiang, tries to get her out of the doldrums although she hardly knows the reason behind her mistress's moods. Liniang looks at herself in the mirror, and is distressed to see how sallow she is, and grieves over her lost beauty.  She ponders that if she dies at such a young age, no one would ever know where her heart is laid.  So, she wets her brush with tears, and draws a self-portrait. Then she tells Chunxiang that when she dies, this painting should be buried under the amorphous rock next to her grave.  Her hope is that if ever the young scholar in her dream comes to this place, he would find the portrait, and she and her dream lover would meet again.

Main Cast: Tang Yuen-ha, Qiu Xiujuan

Tang Yuen-ha   
Tang Yuen-ha was the winner of the 8th Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Theatre, and was presented with an Outstanding Performance Award at the 3^rd China Peking Opera Festival in 2001. In 2009 Tang was presented with the Award for Best Artist 2007/08 by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. She was trained by Maestro Yu Zhenfei, the legendary name in Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera, and received martial art training from Zhang Meijuan, the famous actress performing wudan (military female) roles.  Endowed with a broad range voice and rich tone colours, Tang is a versatile actress who can portray a variety of characters with refreshing originality and insight, which has won her the praise of being‘a pearl of the Peking and Kunqu operatic arts in Hong Kong'. Apart from performing and playing a producer's role, Tang is also a keen promoter of the art of Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera in Hong Kong and other parts of the world.  She has been invited to give demonstration performances and talks by the University of London, University of York, Centre for Performance Research of the University of Wales, and the Australian National University.  She is the founder and Artistic Director of Jingkun Theatre.

Geng Tianyuan
Geng Tianyuan graduated from the Academy of Chinese Traditional Theatre, specialising in sheng roles. He is a versatile actor capable of interpreting different roles with insight and sensitivity, and has flexible vocal skills to adapt to the roles.  He won the Best Actor Award in the 3^rd Festival of Traditional Chinese Opera in Paris in 2007.  Performing aside, he is also a director and has won a Class One Award for Directing in Shandong in 1995, and the Best Director Award at the 6^th Wenhua Awards presented by the Ministry of Culture.  In recent years, he has revived, adapted and directed an admirable range of operatic productions. His other directorial feats cover other regional operatic genres as well, including Hunan Opera and Cantonese Opera productions.  Geng is currently the Resident Director and actor of the Jingkun Theatre.

Wang Yujin
Wang Yujin is a National Class One Performer and a member of the Chinese Dramatists' Association.  He specializes in chou (comic) roles in Peking Opera.  He has a crisp and sonorous voice, clear enunciation and delivery, and sensitive portrayals of his characters.  He was named one of the‘Eight Outstanding Comic Role Actors’in Chinese Opera in the Shandong Province in 1990.

Zheng Shaohua
Zheng Shaohua is a National Class One Performer specialized in laosheng (old man) roles.  He is a member of the Chinese Dramatists' Association, and currently the Deputy Director of the Shandong Peking Opera Theatre.  He was the winner of an Outstanding Performance Award at the 3rd Chinese Peking Opera Festival.

Zhang Liming
Zhang Liming trained at the Shandong College of the Arts specialized in hualian (painted face) roles.  His repertoire includes Subduing Guan Sheng, Rescuing His Sister at the Bright Sun Mansion, Golden Sands Beach, Zhong Kui Marries His Sister Off, The Rare Hippo Horn, Luhuadang etc..  He won a Class One Award for Performance at the Shandong Young Actors in Peking Opera Competition with Bright Sun Mansion in 2005, and an Outstanding Performance Award at the 6th CCTV All China Young Actors Awards with The Golden Sand Beach in 2008.

Chen Chen
Chen Chen was trained at the Academy of Chinese Opera of China, where she specialised in laodan (old woman) roles.  She was a distinguished student while at school, and joined the Shandong Peking Opera Theatre in 2006.  Chen sings with a broad range and poignant tone colours, and performs with flair.  She was the star in  The House Wulong and Dowager She Takes Leave of the Emperor.

Jin Zhiyong
Jin Zhiyong graduated from the Shandong Chinese Opera School in 1998 and joined the Shandong Peking Opera Theatre in the same year.  He specialises in the hualian (painted face) roles, and during his studies, he already won two Class Three Awards of the‘New Buds Cup’for Peking Opera and a Gold Award at the Arts Institution Showcase.  Jin shows solid groundwork in his stylized movements, a robust appeal but sensitivity in interpretation.  He won a Class Two Award at the National‘Red Prunus Cup’Competition for Peking Opera Performers in 2003, and another Class Two Award at the Provincial Competition for Young Performers in Shandong in 2005.

Qiu Xiujuan
Qiu Xiujuan is a National Class Two Performer specializing in wudan, (military female) roles.  She was trained at the Shandong Chinese Opera School.  Qiu has a sweet, charming stage persona and performs with flair.  Her repertoire includes The Hu Homestead, Sawing the Water Tank, Waylaying the Horse etc.. She won a Class One Award at the Competition for Young to Middle-aged Performers of Shandong Province in 2005.

The Jingkun Theatre was established in 1986 with the purpose of developing and promoting Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera.  Over the years, it has organised and coordinated various kinds of performances, talks, workshops and courses.  Recent major productions include The Exquisite Charm of Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera, Classics Revisited, The Northern & Southern Kunqu Virtuosi Showcase and the revival of a Kunqu Opera production, Wu Song and Pan Jinlian.  Earlier productions include the Peking Opera Concert, which showcased the various vocal styles and traced the development of Peking Opera in the last one hundred years; The Great Belfrey, which was based on Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame; and a Peking Opera based on the novel of the same title by Louis Cha, The Return of the Condor Heroes.  The Jingkun Theatre was invited to represent the Hong Kong in the China Peking Opera Festival held in Nanjing in 2001, and the China Kunqu Opera Festival held in Suzhou in 2006.  In 2007, it was invited to represent Hong Kong in the 3^rd Festival of Traditional Chinese Opera in Paris.

Apart from giving performances, the Jingkun Theatre has been conducting arts education and guided appreciation sessions for primary, secondary and university students in Hong Kong.  It has also geared itself towards the international arena, having been invited to give demonstration performances and hold symposiums and workshops for the University of London, the University of York and the Australian National University.

Accredited as one of the 'top ten Peking Opera troupes of national standing' in China in late 2005, the Shandong Peking Opera Theatre is renowned for its cast of virtuosi performers capable of performing all the stock roles in Chinese opera with professionalism and attention to detail. Many outstanding performers in Peking Opera have come from the company, including the venerable artists of the first generation and celebrated contemporary artists, as well as the budding young artists.  Many of these young artists have won awards in provincial and national competitions. 

The company's repertory encompasses a wide spectrum of themes and types within the genre of Peking Opera.  It includes not only the traditional repertoire and their adaptations, but also original libretti and scores on modern and contemporary themes.  Among them, Red Cloud Hill and Attacking the White Tiger Brigade have been made into films; and the latter has become a classic after it was named one of the eight‘model plays’of the Cultural Revolution.  In the 1990s, the company's original productions Shilong Bay (a story about a young fisherwoman during the Japanese invasion to China), The Pen Is Mightier Than the Sword (a story about the valiant fight put up by the men of letters against the aggression of the Eight-Power Allied Forces during the last years of the Qing Dynasty), and The Hegemony of Qi (a story about Prince Qi, whose power dominated all the other states during the Spring and Autumn Period) have won the New Repertory Award at the 6^th and 11^th Wenhua Awards, and the Outstanding Repertory Award at the 1^st and 3^rd Peking Opera Festival.  In 1999, the company joined the Jingkun Theatre in Hong Kong to stage the Peking Opera production, The Great Belfry, which was adapted from Victor Hugo's famous novel, The Hunchback of Notre Dame. 
  
The company has toured many cities in China and has gone on overseas cultural exchanges as part of the cultural delegations of China, having visited many regions in Europe and Asia and won popular as well as critical acclaim.

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