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05
Thu
Jan
2018
19:30 |
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$280, $220, $160, $120 |
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Auditorium, Tsuen Wan Town Hall |
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20
Thu
Jan
2018
19:30 |
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$260, $200, $160, $120 |
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Auditorium, Tuen Mun Town Hall |
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21
Thu
Jan
2018
19:30 |
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$240, $160, $120 |
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Auditorium, Tai Po Civic Centre |
BUY TICKET
Chinese Opera
Showcase the Performance Routines Inheriting the Grandeur of Cantonese Opera
5.1.2018 (Fri) 7:30pm
The Match Made at the Colourful Tower
Wang Yun, the Prime Minister, organises a match-making contest for her third daughter Wang Baochuan: whoever catches the ball of ribbons, whether he is rich or poor, will become his son-in-law. While the ball falls onto the hands of Xue Pinggui, Wang Yun takes back his words when he notes the poor and humble appearance of Xue. Insisting on marrying Pinggui, Baochuan performs a ritual to get disowned by her father to indicate her determination. Baochuan and Pinggui live frugally in an old cave at Wujiapo. When the emperor seeks a talented person to tame a horse, Pinggui volunteers and accomplishes the task. He is then ordered to go on a military expedition to Xiliang. Although eighteen years has passed and no news of Pinggui is heard, Baochuan has remained faithful to her husband. In Western Liao, Pinggui is recruited as the husband of a princess. He takes over the throne when the king of Western Liao dies. Pinggui returns to the derelict cave and brings Baochuan to Western Liao to become his consort.
It is a famous play in which the leads can perform their best singing, gesturing and stylised movements of traditional Cantonese Opera. Besides the well-known formulaic performance routines of hand-beating, bidding farewell at the cave and arriving at the palace, the essence of the play can also be found in other scenes, such as Wujiapo (return to the cave) and visiting the cold cave (mother-and-daughter reunion). The segment of bidding farewell at the cave does not only feature the traditional stylised movements of a performance routines, it is also sung and played in Guanhua (the official language), which is very rare.
Lee Lung as Xue Pinggui
Wong Chiu-kwan as Wang Baochuan
Wan Yuk-yu as Madam Wang
Yat Dim-hung as Wang Yun
Wang Kit-ching as Chunmei / Princess
Ruan Dewen as Su Long
Ng Lap-hei as Zhu Yisheng
20.1.2018 (Sat) 7:30pm
Death of a Loyal Warrior
The emperor of Ming is incompetent. His consort at the West Palace and his father-in-law conspire with the king of Wala to take over Ming. The Zhong brothers team up with some volunteers and secretly take down the treacherous conspiracy. Old Marshal Zhong is recovering from a serious illness. He asks his eldest son Xiaoquan to oversee the army at the border on behalf of him. The royal father-in-law takes the opportunity to invade the border with the king of Wala. To their surprise, Xiaoquan and his fiancé Ziying and her brother fought back bravely and defeat the full army of the king of Wala, who now despises Xiaoquan. To vent his anger, the king of Wala demands the royal father-in-law murder Xiaoquan. The emperor of Ming falls for rumours and summons Xiaoquan back to the capital city, charging him with treason. The emperor orders the Old Marshal to execute his own son to show the family’s loyalty to the country. Xiaoquan sacrifices himself heroically. To avenge for his twin brother, Xiaoyi works very hard to collect evidence of treason and conspiracy with foreign power by the royal father-in-law. The traitors get their justice served in the end.
This is the renowned play which brings Dr. Lam Kar-sing to fame for the first time. The tight-knit plot begins with a series of action movements in the first scene urging the son onto the trip; there is also the formulaic performance of gait motion. The combat skills in the second scene feature martial routines such as military launch, metal rooster and large-scale battle, etc. The son-killing routine in the final scene calls for the concerted collaboration of actors and comes with a large number of gait motions and stylised actions.
Lee Lung as Zhong Xiaoquan
Wong Chiu-kwan as Lu Ziying
Wan Yuk-yu as Zhong Yujun
Yat Dim-hung as Royal father-in-law
Ko Lai as Zhong Mulan
Ruan Dewen as Lu Jianying
Vong Seng-pan as Zhong Xiaoyi
21.1.2018 (Sun) 7:30pm
Lovers at the Mercy of the Sword
Huang Yumei and Huang Yufen are twin sisters. Before they were born, Yumei was promised to Yang Zhicheng, and Yufen to Ma Junsheng as wives. Uprisings occur year after year, the Huang sisters flee with their parents, and the family becomes separated in the chaos. To keep herself and her daughter Yufen alive, Madam Huang seeks refuge from the Yang’s by disguising Yufen as Yumei. Although Yufen met Yang Zhicheng once, she does not want to marry him and runs away. Mr. Huang also tries to seek refuge from the other family of in-laws-to-be, disguising Yumei as Yufen. Without knowing the truth, Ma Junsheng marries Yumei. Junsheng joins the army. Yumei and her sister-in-law join him on the military expedition. After the barracks are under siege for three months, there is no food left. In an attempt to boost the morale, Ma Junsheng has no choice but to follow a historic hero’s footstep to sacrifice the flesh of his own wife as food for the army. Ma is too emotional to complete the killing and passes out. Wrongly informed that Yumei has married someone else, Yang Zhicheng follows the army and finds out the Yumei is not Yufen. To honour the decision of Junsheng, Zhicheng volunteers to do the killing for him by saying Yumei is his wife. Yufen arrives at the moment of the invaders’ defeat. Yufen is mistaken as Yumei. Junsheng also misunderstands Yumei cheated on him. After a series of complicated scenarios, Junsheng finally realized Yumei has sacrificed herself.
The play has a very complicated plot. The female lead plays two roles and performs a list of misunderstanding scenes with the two male leads. Two wife-killing performance routines are brought out – killing of the loyal wife, and killing of a treacherous wife.
Lee Lung as Ma Junsheng
Wong Chiu-kwan as Huang Yufen / Huang Yumei
Wan Yuk-yu as Zhang Bailing
Yat Dim-hung as Liu Zhenbang
Ko Lai as Ma Xiaolan
Ruan Dewen as Yang Zhicheng
Information provided by Wing Wah Cantonese Opera Promotion Association
TICKETING
DATE VENUE PRICE 05.01.2018 (Fri)
19:30
19:30
Auditorium, Tsuen Wan Town Hall
$280, $220, $160, $120
20.01.2018 (Sat)
19:30
19:30
Auditorium, Tuen Mun Town Hall
$260, $200, $160, $120
21.01.2018 (Sun)
19:30
19:30
Auditorium, Tai Po Civic Centre
$240, $160, $120
DATE05.01.2018 (Fri)
19:30
19:30
PRICE
$280, $220, $160, $120
DATE20.01.2018 (Sat)
19:30
19:30
PRICE
$260, $200, $160, $120
DATE21.01.2018 (Sun)
19:30
19:30
PRICE
$240, $160, $120