15 July 2005 (Fri)
The Poetess Li Qingzhao
The story takes place during the Southern Song Dynasty. Zhao Mingcheng dies in the capital of Nanjing, leaving behind a houseful of antiques and an unfinished scroll of his research on bronzes and precious stones. After his funeral, his widow Li Qingzhao falls ill. The Imperial Physician Wang wants to buy the antiques off her hands, at the same time telling her that there is the rumour around town that her deceased husband had bequeathed his legacy of treasures to the encroaching enemy force, Jin. To clear his name and to prevent the artifacts from losing into anonymous hands, Li quickly decides that she would bring all the family treasures and present them to the Song monarch. But the imperial court and household are already retreating further south to escape the threat of the Jin army. Li chases after them, taking the high roads and the low roads to track the whereabouts of the imperial entourage, but in vain. After more than a year of a wild goose chase, she finally meets up with her brother Li Hang. But the artifacts she brings with her get stolen. She suffers from the blow and falls seriously ill. In 1132, an official by the name of Zhang Ruzhou manages to persuade Li Hang to let him marry his sister. The seedier, scheming side of him is soon revealed after the wedding, and he shows that the real intention of marrying Li Qingzhao is not to have her as wife, but as access to the huge fortune of ancient artifacts and antiques. He believes that they would be the stairway for him to rise in position at court. Li Qingzhao tries to talk sense into him, but is rudely rebuked. She now sees that Zhang can have his way because corruption is rife in the imperial court of Song. So she decides to turn him in and take the case to court, in a bid to set the world right again.
But according to the Song rules, informing on one’s relatives would incur “two years’ imprisonment”, regardless of the cause. Li Qingzhao is determined that she would rather go to jail than to allow her soul be contaminated. Because of this, she has to spend nine days in jail.
Creative Team
Guo Qihong : A famous dramatist in contemporary China , Guo is currently a Class One Playwright at the Beijing People's Art Theatre , and Chairman of the Beijing Dramatists' Association. He has more than 800 types of publications to his credit, and some of the most representative works are a joint production of Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera, The Peach Blossom Fan ; the new original Peking Opera, Sima Qian , which won three Wenhua Awards for Best Script, and four Cao Yu Theatre and Literature Award in China, and three 'Flying Apsara' Award for Chinese Television, a Gold Lion Award for Drama, and the Lao She Literary Award. He is esteemed as one of the 'triumvirate' in contemporary theatre in China . He is the Literary Adviser to the Luju , Li Qingzhao .
Hou Lu:
A National Class One Playwright, Hou graduated from the Central Academy of Drama.
Her representative works include the Lu opera, Li Qingzhao and Debt of Love . A winner of the Cao Yu Drama Award and the 'Huabiao Award' for Chinese Films, Hou is the director of the current production of Lu opera , Li Qingzhao .
Pan Xiping : A National Class One Director and Class One Performer, Pan graduated from the Shanghai Theatre Academy . His accolades include an Outstanding Director Award at the China Theatre Festival, a Wenhua Award for Directing, a Gold Lion Award for Play Directing, an Outstanding Director Award at the Armed Forces Showcase, and a Special Award for Directing. His play The Tiger on Mount Zhong was among the list of 'National Gems of Theatre'. He is the Director of the current production of Lu opera, Li Qingzhao .
Cast:
Qian Tao as Li Qingzhao
Ma Zijun as Zhang Ruzhou
Hu Yongjun as Wang the Imperial Physician
Huang Bing as Zhao Mingcheng
Sun Shengji as Li Hang
16 July 2005 (Sat)
The Legend of the White Snake Retold
The story of the opera is based on a famous Chinese folklore: White Snake has attained immortality after practicing for a thousand years and can turn into human form. But unable to stand the loneliness in the celestial world, she yearns to be among the mortals. Accompanied by the Green Snake, she visits Hangzhou . There she chances to meet Xu Xian, a shopkeeper in a herbalist store. It is love at first sight for the two, and they become husband and wife. Monk Fahai of the Jinshan Temple sees through the human guise of the two snakes, and takes matters into his own hands to break them up. Xu Xian, who is of a suspicious character and easily persuaded, gives his wife many tribulations. From the discovery during the Dragon Boat Festival to stealing the celestial herb , flooding the Jinshan Temple and husband and wife reunited on Broken Bridge , the two go through many mishaps and anxieties until they are reunited.
Cast:
Xie Yangling as Bai Suzhen (the White Snake)
Sun Shengji as Xu Xian
Wang Jiajia as Xiao Qing (the Green Snake)
Xu Weishu as Fahai
Performers
Qian Tao: A National Class Two Performer, Qian has starred in many plays, including Together Through Thick and Thin, Love Between Laughter and Tears, The Dream of the Red Mansion etc., as well as the Huangmexi on television, The Tree that Scrapes the Sky . She was the winner of the Red Plum Competition for Singing of Chinese Opera Excerpts, a Class One Award for Performance of the Anhui Province .
Ma Zijun : Ma is a National Class Two Performer and a member of the Chinese Dramatists' Association and the Chinese Opera Performing Association. He has starred in The Drunken Inn, Xi Shi the Beauty, A Picture of Wealth and Riches etc. His accolades include the title as one of the 'Ten Best Performers' at the National Huangmei Opera Showcase and a Silver Award at the Xiaobaihua Arts Festival of China.
Yang Xieling : A National Class Three Performer, Xie has appeared in many Lu productions, including Qin Xuemei , The Butterfly Lovers, Qin Xianglian etc. She was the winner of the Bronze Award at the regional contest of Anhui during the first National Chinese Opera Red Plum Competition.
Sun Shengji : A National Class Three Performer, Sun has appeared in Li Qingzhao , Qin Xuemei , The Butterfly Lovers etc. He was the winner of the Silver Award at the regional contest of Anhui during the first National Chinese Opera Red Plum Competition, a Class Two Award for Performance at the Chinese Operetta Performance Showcase of Anhui and a Class Three Award at the 7 th Arts Festival of Anhui .
Wang Jiajia : A National Class Three Performer, Wang has appeared in many Lu Operas including Divorcing Ding Xiang , Qin Xuemei , The Butterfly Lovers etc. She was the winner of the Bronze Award at the regional contest of Anhui during the first National Chinese Opera Red Plum Competition.
Lu Opera
Lu Opera is the vernacular opera of the main regions of Anhui. It has a history of more than two hundred years, and is popularly found in mid- and western Anhui as well as the areas south of the Yangtze River. The vocalization is mainly divided into two types, huaqiang (or coloratura) and zhudiao (or main melody). For the latter, there are tunes called erliang, hanqiang and sanqi; while there are specific delivery styles designated to actors performing different role types, which means a laosheng would have a delivery formula for ‘old man’, a xiaosheng would have one for ‘young man’. and a chou, his style for ‘comic roles’. Owing to the different dialects and different styles of singing, Lu opera vocalization may also be divided into three ‘reaches’: the western, the middle, and the eastern, or ‘upper’, ‘middle’ and ‘lower’. The western (‘upper’) covers Shucheng, Huoqiu, Huoshan up to the hinterland of Dabieshan. The middle radiates from Hefei and Chaohu to the large expanse of area south of the Huai River. The eastern (‘lower’) reach mainly runs along the Yangtze River, and covers the cities and prefectures of Jiangnan, such as Wuhu, Wuwei, Lujiang, Suancheng Nanling, Jingxian etc.
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