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EVENT DESCRIPTION
The Chinese Opera Festival 2023 (COF), presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), will stage Henan Qu opera, a regional operatic genre rarely seen by Hong Kong audiences, for the first time in June. Qu opera masters and actors of the Centre for the Safeguarding of Qu Opera of Henan will come to Hong Kong to stage three iconic plays, showcasing the unique and traditional artistic charm of Qu opera with the best line-up of the troupe.
Henan Qu opera, also known as gaotaiqu (literally “high stage singing”), is one of the main regional Chinese opera genres of Henan Province. Qu opera was inscribed onto the First National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2006. It originated from an ordinary folk song-and-dance show which combined the form of guziqu singing performance with the acrobatic skill of stilt-walking (gaoqiao), and has evolved into a proper operatic form after the stilts were discarded. With simple and understandable singing and spoken lines, its contents are mostly about the lives of ordinary people, typical of vernacular plays.
The Centre has gathered veteran Qu opera artists and young talent from various schools to stage three of their highly representative productions as well as two excerpts at the COF. The first performance will feature “Wedding in a Snowstorm”, an iconic play of Qu opera with a lively and bright pace that has been enjoyed by many audiences over the years. The scenes of “Being Put Into a Crate” and “On Their Wedding Night” are timeless classics. “Roll Up in a Mat” will be presented in the second performance, where the comic actor will drive the action of the play to portray a sincere and simple character by using the unique singing style of Qu opera. The final performance will begin with “Chen Sanliang”, with its music combining the dadiao (full length tunes) and the xiaodiao (short tunes), which showcases the vocal skills of the cast. Classic excerpts, “Crying at the Great Wall from Meng Jiangnu” and “The Garden from Kou Zhun with His Boots”, also feature the outstanding operatic skills of performers, which are must-see pieces for theatregoers.
Details of the three performances are as follows:
Date and time: June 23 (Friday), 7.30pm
“Wedding in a Snowstorm”
Main cast: Liu Yanli, Hu Xiuqin, Yang Shuaixue
Synopsis: Yan Jun is the son of a rich man, but he is far from good-looking. He ogles Gao Qiufang, daughter of squire Gao Zan, and asks his cousin Qian Qing to go on his behalf to make a formal proposal. The Gao family is delighted to see Qian Qing and the marriage proposal is accepted. On the wedding day, Yan Jun asks Qian Qing again to go and receive the bride on his behalf. A snowstorm suddenly hits, Gao Zan and his wife conduct the wedding ceremony and ask the newlyweds to spend their wedding night at the Gao residence. The furious Yan Jun drags Qian Qing to court to sue him for marriage fraud. The judge rules that Qiufang is properly married to Qian Qing, and Yan Jun ends up losing and leaving empty-handed.
Date and time: June 24 (Saturday), 7.30pm
“Roll Up in a Mat”
Main cast: Chang Xiangke (former part), Yang Shuaixue (latter part), Liu Qing
Synopsis: Zhang Cangwa has lost his father at a tender age. He follows his mother who later marries into the Cao family. But she is so wicked that she first kills Master Cao and then frames Zhang, wife of Cao’s son, Baoshan. In order to save the innocent Zhang, Cangwa offers himself up as the murderer, and is sentenced to death. Fortunately, Cangwa is rescued by the newly appointed Governor, Baoshan, who has attained honour at the imperial examination. The Cao family is united again at long last.
Date and time: June 25 (Sunday), 7.30pm
“Chen Sanliang”
Main cast: Zhang Aiqin (former part), Liu Qing (latter part), Hou Qingxiang
Synopsis: Chen Sanliang, who is initially named Li Suping, became a courtesan when her parents died. She sold herself to a brothel in exchange for the means to bury her parents and support the education of her younger brother, Li Fengming. There, she takes a beggar called Chen Kui in as her younger brother, and teaches him poetry and literature at the brothel. Later, Chen Kui attains the highest honour at the imperial examination. He sends for his sister Sanliang to join him. The pimp at the brothel however tricks Sanliang into marrying a jeweller Zhang Zichun as a concubine. As they pass by Cangzhou, Sanliang discovers the lie and refuses to go further. Zhang takes Sanliang to court and bribes the local official, who happens to be Sanliang’s brother, Li Fengming. Not recognising his sister in court, Fengming tries to persuade her to go with Zhang, but Sanliang refuses in very strong words. The infuriated Fengming resorts to torturing Sanliang. Meanwhile, Chen Kui, now the Imperial Commissioner, rescues Sanliang in time, and dismisses Fengming from office. Only then does Sanliang agree to reconcile with Fengming, and the three brothers and sister reunite.
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