Music Theatre
The Peony Pavilion
Shanghai Kunqu Opera Company
“The Four Dreams of Linchuan”
Shanghai Kunqu Opera Company: “The Peony Pavilion”. Shen Yili, Li An © Shanghai Kunqu Opera Company
This most famous of all China Operas tells the story of the beautiful Du Liniang. She has an erotic dream in which she meets her lover, the young scholar Liu Mengmei. When she fails to find him in real life, she dies of a broken heart. Overwhelmed by her powerful emotions, the judge of the underworld allows Du Liniang to return to earth as a spirit, where she searches for and finally finds him. Du Liniang is granted back her life, but there is a rocky road to happiness ahead of her.
This story sets the frame for a social panorama that includes a range of characters from ministers to prostitutes, from farmers to tutors, from generals to tea pickers. It is one of the first great epic works of global literary history with a complex, multi-faceted female protagonist at its centre. Tang Xianzu describes her with psychological depth and a form of realism that transforms into the philosophical, the satirical, the demonic and the fantastic.
The Shanghai Kunqu Opera Company has been performing various productions of this piece for decades.
Li An as Liu Mengmei
Shen Yili as Du Liniang
Kunqu Opera Cast List
Xie Chen, Sun Jinghua, Wang Jinyu, Zhao Lei, Zhu Linyan, Zhou Liya, Xue Lu, Tang Popo, Yuan Shan, Tao Siyu, Tan Xiao, Kan Xin, An Xinyu, Sun Xu, Ni Xuhao, Lin Yan, Zhou Yimin, Zhang Yiyan, Lou Yunxiao, Jia Zhe, Zhou Zhe, Lin Zhi, Shi Zonghao
Directed by Ni Guangjin
Lighting Design Zhou Zhenping
Costumes Huang Liying, Qing Wenbao
Music Zhou Xuehua
Shanghai Kunqu Opera Company
Director Gu Haohao
Vice Director Zhang Yongliang
Stage Director Ding Xiaochun
PR Director & Suǒnà Player Chen Yingwu
Kun Opera Director Shen Kuang / Ni Guang Jin
Performance Coordination Director Gan Chunwei
Administration Sun Yong
Kun Opera & Cultural Researcher Zhou Danyan
Subeditor Qiu Lihua
Kun Opera Chamber
Drum Gao Jun, Li Qi, Wang Yifan
Bamboo Flute Zhang Siwei, Qian Yin, Yang Ziyin
Sheng Wen Weiwei, Zhen Yueqi
Pipa Yang Shengyi
Sanxian Wang Zhihao
Huqin Zhu Min, Zhang Jin, Shen Xiaojun, Chen Yueting
Yangqin Chen Yufang
Bass Ruan Chen Juanjuan
Zheng Bao Danni
Chinese Gong Meng Qiaogen
Cymbals Yu Tianle
Kun Opera Gong Zhang Guoqiang
Stage
Lighting Li Bingchun, Li Jiani, Wu Yueyue
Stage Set Zhang Meng, Zhang Jianshen, Ji Xianyuan, Chen Yang
Sound Zhou Jiawen, Ma Yidong, Luo Yufen
Props Xu Lei, Zhan Yuzhi
Surtitles Zhang Jiawei
Costumes Meng Fanjun, Xu Hongqin, Chen Yu
Head Dresses Bao Xiao, Yang Zhiwen
Make-up Fu Fenglong, Fan Yili