Kunqu Opera debuts new show at art festival
The new show provides today’s audience with an insight into the history and the distinctive charm of Kunqu Opera.
Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe will stage its new original play “The Legend of Washing Gauze” for two nights during the ongoing 12th China Art Festival.
Set in a turbulent period of Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the play revolves around the Ming Kunqu Opera’s first creation — “Washing Gauze.” Despite their personal adversities, Ming playwright Liang Chenyu and Kunqu experts Wei Liangfu and Zhang Yetang devoted themselves to the Kunqu’s innovation of dramatic singing, which first originated from Kunshan in Jiangsu Province in the late Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368).
With big changes to the former heritage vocals, the Ming Kunqu style largely influences today’s Kunqu Opera art.
Starring Shanghai Kunqu performers Li An and Wu Shuang, the new show provides today’s audience with an insight into the history and the distinctive charm of Kunqu Opera.
Famous Kunqu Opera artist Yue Meidi is the play’s art director. In her eyes, the play is also a tribute to the efforts of ancient Chinese artists in the development of Kunqu.
Reputed as the “ancestor of Chinese dramas,” Kunqu was listed as a UNESCO Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage in 2001.
Date: May 30 and 31, 7:30pm
Tickets: 60-380 yuan
Tel: 6272 0455
Venue: Shanghai City Theater
Address: 4889 Dushi Rd
