The Peony Pavilion, a beautiful love story which is performed with a traditional Chinese opera, Kun opera, is now prepared to create some buzz in Guangzhou. Over the course of the centuries, Kun opera’s elegant costumes, beautiful music along with its well written plots have captured the hearts of countless audiences all over the world. Recently, Kun opera was designated by UNESCO as “A Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.” Today, the “Young Lover’s Version” of The Peony Pavilion, adapted by Pai Xianyong, has once again surprised the world with its breathtaking storyline and the modified, yet preserving costumes that are designed to accommodate the perspective of the modern day viewers.

 

 

Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre of Jiangsu was formerly the Su and Kunqu Opera Troupe of Jiangsu. Established in 1956, it performed both Kunqu Opera and Su Opera. The theatre has groomed four generations of performers, numbering over a hundred excellent traditional artists among which many are multiple-award-winners. The Theatre has contributed to the salvaging, upholding and developing of the classical art form.

 

A young woman has a passionate dream about a mysterious stranger and develops an intense longing for the handsome young man. So it begins the extraordinary love story, The Peony Pavilion.

The second part takes you to the life of the scholarly hero, Liu Meng-Mei. On his way to the imperial examinations, Meng-mei drops by the now-abandoned Du family home where he sees a portrait of the lovely but tragically deceased heroine Du Li-Niang and begins to long for her. His pining bears unexpected fruit when Li-Niang appears to him in a dream and bids him to do something slightly bizarre...

Fresh from the drama of Part II of The Peony Pavilion, we are now plunged into Liu Meng -Mei’s search for Du Li-Niang’s father amidst national crisis and rebellion in Part III. As issues of identity and truth arise, trouble ensues…