Eight stunning Chinese opera programmes to be staged at inaugural Chinese Culture Festival from June to August (with photos)

　　Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), the Chinese Opera Festival (COF) is in its 12th edition this year, and has become a core part of the inaugural Chinese Culture Festival (CCF), striving to play an even greater role in promoting the arts and culture of Chinese opera. It will present eight quality programmes packed with both civil and martial scenes from June to August, covering Cantonese opera, North Road Bangzi opera, Chiuchow opera, Liuzi opera, Yue opera, Kunqu opera, Wu opera and Peking opera, which enable members of the public to appreciate the essence of Chinese opera and experience the profound cultural heritage of the country. The COF also allows outstanding troupes from all over the country to demonstrate to the world the unique charm of Chinese opera as a treasure of Chinese culture in Hong Kong, an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchanges.
 
　　The COF will start off with "Cyrano de Bergerac" – A Cantonese Opera Interpretation, a new interdisciplinary production developed by Cantonese opera virtuoso Law Ka-ying, who has been working on it for 10 years. The play is an adaptation of a 19th-century French classic piece of the same title, and is transposed to a political period of unrest during the Ming dynasty. Law partners with famous veterans Liza Wang and Sun Kim Long to present this well-known story of a love triangle, revealing the deepest romantic feelings that were buried in wartime love letters. The adaptation has preserved the performing techniques, traditional forms and artistic charm of Cantonese opera, a world-class intangible cultural heritage, while demonstrating the eclecticism of this art form, most notably in the hybrid mix of East and West. It also showcases the fresh image of the art form through innovation and inclusion.
 
　　Yue opera has long been a favourite for opera fans in Hong Kong. As this year marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of Yin Guifang, founder of the Yin School of Yue opera, the LCSD has invited the Fujian Fanghua Yue Opera Troupe, which was established by Yin, to take part in the COF for the first time. Wang Junan, Yin's disciple, together with Zheng Quan and Li Min, winners of the China Theatre Plum Blossom Award (Plum Blossom Award), will present the repertoires of the Yin School, "Liu Yong" and "The Jade Dragonfly" respectively, and numerous classic operatic excerpts to celebrate the legacy of Yin.
 
　　Chiuchow opera, which also has a large number of local fans, will be staged at the COF again this year. The Guangdong Chiu Chow Opera Theatre Number One Troupe and Hong Kong's Sun Hon Kwong Chiu Chow Opera Troupe will join hands again to present "Princess of Eastern Wu" played by Zhang Yihuang, winner of the Plum Blossom Award, and "Poet Li Shangyin", a Plum Blossom Award-winning work performed by Lin Yanyun. The performances will showcase the artistic characteristics of Chiuchow opera as one of the three main regional operatic genres in Guangdong, while at the same time, epitomising the long-time cultural bonds and exchanges between the Mainland and Hong Kong.
 
　　The Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre will be back with a grand line-up to present the classic repertoire "The Palace of Eternal Life" played by Plum Blossom awardees Wei Chunrong and Wang Zhenyi. This play, of a high literary and musical calibre, is centred on the tragic love story of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Imperial Concubine Yang. The programme includes two selections of traditional opera excerpts that highlight the distinctive acting techniques of the different role types to feature the uniquely heroic yet delicate style of northern Kunqu.
 
　　Having received an overwhelming response in Hong Kong last year, the Zhejiang Wu Opera Research Centre will be back with its latest production "Sun Wu Kong Thrice Beat the Bony Demon". Winners of the Plum Blossom Award, Yang Xiayun and Lou Sheng, together with other outstanding young artists, will present this classic story from the "Journey to the West" with magnificent stunts and techniques. The performance is a good opportunity to tell a successful story of the development of contemporary Chinese operatic art, and promote exchanges between industry players. The troupe will also bring its full-length play "Mu Guiying" and other classic excerpts onto the stage of Hong Kong to demonstrate its character of "crossing the line between the martial and the civil repertories" of Wu opera.  
 
　　This year's COF will also introduce two regional operatic genres with high artistic standards and unique styles. North Road Bangzi opera of Shanxi will make its debut at the COF with two classic plays set in high Tang, "Sobering Up after Being Drunk" and "Dotting the Eye of a Painted Dragon", which will be performed by Plum Blossom Award winners Yang Zhongyi and Cheng Fengying from the Academy of Xinzhou Studies, to demonstrate the heroic style of Saibei (a region beyond the Great Wall). With its best line-up, the Centre for the Safeguarding of Liuzi Opera of Shandong will bring the representative work of Liuzi opera, "Sun An Presenting Memorials", back to the Hong Kong stage after 16 years. Another play featuring "hualian" (painted-face), "Zhang Fei Crashing the Palace Gate", in which General Zhang Fei enters the stage in a civil way of holding a folding fan that is rarely seen in character design, is also a not-to-be-missed performance for theatregoers.
 
　　The Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company, from the city of focus of this year's CCF, will present the grand finale of the COF with "The House of Wulong", a representative work of Peking opera master Zhou Xinfang (better known by his stage name Qilintong). This time, the play will be interpreted by Chen Shaoyun, currently the leading exponent of Qi style and renowned virtuoso of the Peking opera, to showcase the masterful demeanour of "four skills in performing and five acting rules" in the Qi tradition of "laosheng" (old male) role. Plum Blossom awardee Fu Xiru will lead an excellent young cast to perform the full-length serial opera "Seven Heroes and Five Gallants" (Part One and Two). The two performances, with exquisite stage designs, allow opera fans to follow the exciting story plot to the end and experience the unique martial arts in Shanghai-style stage characteristics. This programme is also one of the Shanghai Culture Week events.
 
　　For the dates and times of the above-mentioned stage performances, please see the Annex. Tickets are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk) and the Xiqu Centre Ticket Office. For telephone bookings, please call 3166 1288. A limited time offer is available from now until May 3 for purchasing the selected stage programmes of the Chinese Culture Festival (including the above-mentioned COF programmes). For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7325 or visit www.cof.gov.hk/2024/en.
 
　　To strengthen the promotion and preservation of fine traditional Chinese culture, apart from the above-mentioned performances, this year's COF will curate more guided arts appreciation activities. In addition to arts talks, film screenings and exhibitions, there will be thematic talks, masterclasses, workshops, demonstration performances, school tours with guided viewings and more to promote the profound Chinese operatic heritage as well as the wonderful richness of Chinese culture and arts. Moreover, the COF will arrange two performances and appreciation sessions under the heading of "Chinese Culture for All: A Special Performance Series" specially targeted at students, allowing them to experience the exquisite arts of Chinese opera.
 
　　The CCF, presented by the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and organised by the LCSD and the Chinese Culture Promotion Office, aims to enhance the public appreciation of Chinese culture and cultivate citizen's national identity and cultural confidence. The inaugural CCF will be held from June to September. Through different performing arts programmes in various forms and related extension activities, including selected programmes of the Chinese Opera Festival, exemplary local arts projects recognised by the China National Arts Fund, performing arts programmes from arts and cultural organisations, film screenings, exhibitions, talks and more, the festival allows members of the public and visitors to experience the broad and profound Chinese culture with a view to promoting Chinese culture and patriotic education as well as enhancing national identity amongst the people of Hong Kong, making contributions to the steadfast and successful implementation of "one country, two systems". 
 
　　The LCSD has all along promoted Chinese history and culture through organising an array of programmes and activities to enable the public to learn more about the broad and profound Chinese culture. For more information, please visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ccpo/index.html.