On the evening of Mar. 12, the modern Kunqu opera “Returning Home on a Snowy Night” (Feng Xue Ye Gui Ren) produced by Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre was staged at the National Center for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing.
The four-act opera, adapted from the famous playwright Wu Zuguang’s namesake drama, tells a sad love story between Wei Liansheng, a famous Beijing Opera actor, and Yuchun, a bigwig’s concubine, happening in the Minguo (the Republic of China) era (1912-1949).
Different from traditional operas, this modern Kunqu opera features stage designs using black, white and grey as the main colors. The Minguo-style stage scenes and costumes took the audience back in time and as the curtain fell, the hall burst into thunderous applause.
Wu Zuguang’s drama “Returning Home on a Snowy Night” has been adapted into a variety of art forms, such as a film, TV series, Beijing opera, Pingju opera, Cantonese opera and ballet. It is the first time the drama has been adapted into a Kunqu opera. It is reported that its script had been revised 11 times and it took 10 months to finish rehearsing the play. Since its premiere, the opera has been performed at the closing ceremony of the 7th China Kunqu Opera Festival and in the 2nd Zijin Beijing Opera and Kunqu Opera Performances.
(Source:chinadaily.com.cn)
