Modern version of The Peony Pavilion.(Photo Source: Global Times) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, May 11 -- Peking Opera is perhaps China's best known traditional opera — but traditionalists are now seeking to promote Kunqu Opera, one of the oldest operatic forms and is considered the bedrock of the operatic form.

    Now undergoing a makeover, Kunqu is attracting new audiences around the world.

    One example of the opera’s resurgence is the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theater’s adaptation of The Peony Pavilion.

    Written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644) and first performed in 1598, the opera is about the romance between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei. The play is regarded as one of the most romantic stories in Chinese literature and is often compared to Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. According to producer Bai Xianyong, the story’s theme of love and beauty still resonate.

    While preserving the story’s integrity, Bai has used modern theater techniques to appeal to a more contemporary audiences. He cut the original 55-act performance down to 27 for his stage version and selected young actors to inject vitality into the centuries-old story.

    The theater staged the updated version of the famous opera at more than 20 universities around China.

    “College students need to appreciate refined art such as Kunqu Opera. I hope this new version can offer a fresh perspective of Kunqu Opera so that college students may reignite their confidence in traditional performing art, ” Bai told the audience at China Communications University.

    In June 2008, The Suzhou Kunqu Opera Company took their version of The Peony Pavilion to Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, where local audiences and theater lovers warmly received it. Yu Qian is a Chinese student in London and said she was excited about being able to watch authentic Kunqu Opera abroad. “This performance is really making a big stir among the overseas Chinese in London. The unique charm of Chinese operas is no less attractive than those Western operas. ”

    Besides Bai’s modernized version of The Peony Pavilion, the great popularity of Beijing’s Imperial Granary rendition of the play is also helping to stimulate new interest in Kunqu Opera.

    The highlight of the Imperial Granary’s The Peony Pavilion is the theater’s fusion of performing and culinary arts. Before the Kunqu Opera performance, guests are treated to grand banquet in which the dishes are all named after the tunes to which the opera is composed. The Imperial Granary’s rendition also breaks tradition by abandoning the stage-style used since the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911) in favor of the more intimate stage-less performances popular during the Ming Dynasty.

    Beijing’s Imperial Granary is a well-preserved storehouse that enjoys more than 600 years of history. The granary has been adapted into a performance venue as part of the Nanxincang cultural complex that includes fine restaurants, art galleries and nightspots. Beijing’s Imperial Granary’s version of The Peony Pavilion was accredited as one of the 2008 Beijing Olympics’ official performances and was presented to Olympic delegations and distinguished guests.

    Talking about the different versions of Kunqu Opera The Peony Pavilion, Zhou Yude, former principal of The National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts said, “The existence of different versions of this Kunqu Opera itself is a sign of Kunqu Opera’s prosperity. It indicates that Kunqu Opera is still full of vitality in modern days.”

    (Source: Global Times)