Sun Moon Star Cantonese Opera: "Lu Buwei – A Kingly Potential Asset" and "The Story of Jing Ke" from "The Warring States Chronicle" (Re-run)

I always take historical plays as my preferred repertoire, because a story with a historical background can facilitate the audience’s understanding of the play’s content, and actors are better facilitated to grasp the characterisation.  As a librettist and artistic director, I find the historical background provides a useful framework for artistic creation, expression of ideas and the desired effects.

The Story of Jing Ke tells the story of Prince Dan and Jing Ke in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.  I have always felt an inner calling to master the role of Prince Dan.  Decades ago, when I first joined Master Chan Fei-nung’s Hong Kong Institute of Cantonese Opera, he let me perform one of the excerpts from Prince Dan’s Resistance against the Tyrannic Qin during the institute’s celebrations. I was still in my first year as an apprentice, and it was the first time I performed on stage.  But the stage experience was monumental to me.

Lu Buwei – A Kingly Potential Asset is written by librettist Norman Cheung Chak-ming.  It was he who invited me to be a scriptwriting instructor.  This play won the Cantonese Opera Development Fund's Outstanding Script Award in the New Cantonese Opera Play Scriptwriting Competition in 2016, and was premiered in 2018.  With Yuen Siu-fai and Wan Fai-yin as the main cast, I hope the restaging of this play will be an opportunity for the audience to appreciate again this very outstanding work in Cantonese Opera.

-- Ng Chin-fung

21 & 28.10.2022

Lu Buwei - A Kingly Potential Asset

Librettist, re-edited by: Norman Cheung Chak-ming

The story takes place towards the end of the Warring States period.  Yiren, a minor prince of Qin, is held hostage in the Zhao State.  Lu Buwei, a merchant, sees him as a rare commodity.  He seeks Yiren out, befriends him and offers him his own concubine, Zhao Ji, who is already pregnant at the time.  The baby is going to be later the First Emperor of Qin, Ying Zheng.  Buwei sells all his assets and moves the whole family to the State of Qin.  With his ingenious schemes, he succeeds in paving the way for Yiren’s return to his native country.  A few years have passed.  Yiren is declared heir to the throne, to which he ascends later.  But he is poisoned to death by Buwei who wants to put Ying Zheng in his place.  Zheng is only in his early teens, so his mother, Zhao Ji becomes regent.  Buwei is highly regarded as his honoured ‘father figure’.  Zheng grows up to be an intelligent young man with sharp political acumen.  He also has the help of Li Si as strategist.  So with the backup support of Buwei, they set a trap to get rid of Ying’s younger brother, Chengjiao, the true son of the Ying bloodline.  This marks the total takeover of the Ying’s by the Lu’s.  Lu Buwei, who started out as a mere merchant, succeeded in plotting a grand political scheme to take over the State of Qin.  Although he came to a bad end, taking the bane of his own making, he has gone down in history as an entrepreneurial genius, and one of his kind.

Ng Chin-fung as Lu Buwei

Wan Fai-yin as Zhao Ji

Yuen Siu-fai as Li Si

Leung Wai-hong as Ying Yiren

Wan Yuk-yu as Fan Wuqi

Ko Lai as The Princess Consort

Vong Seng-pan as Ying Zheng

Wan Yiu-sing as Chengjiao

Chung Kui-man as Wang Jian

Kong Wing-hung as Jian Hua

Ng Sin-hang as Ying Zheng (Childhood)

15 & 29.10.2022

The Story of Jing Ke from The Warring States Chronicle

Librettist: Ng Chin-fung

Crown Prince Dan (? – 226 BCE), whose personal names include Ji Dan and Yan Dan, is the son of King Xi of Yan.  On the eve of their neighbouring State of Han falling to the State of Qin, Dan orders Jing Ke to assassinate King Zheng of Qin. 

The prince was previously hostage at the Qin court.  He was repatriated to his Yan homeland after much humiliation.  When the Qin army encroaches upon the Yan border at the Yi River, Dan seeks an assassin to kill their king.  Dan initially approaches Tian Guang, who declines on the reason of his advanced age, but recommends Jing Ke in his place.  Dan sends Jing Ke and Qin Wuyang to Qin under the pretext of surrendering the map of Dukang (the area comprising present-day Hebei’s Zhuoxian, Yixian and Gu’an) and presenting the head of Fan Wuji to King Zheng.  In the Qin court, Jing Ke unrolls the map for the King to see, and hidden at the end of the scroll is a dagger.  Jing Ke grabs it and aims at the throat of the King but fails.  He is captured and executed by dismemberment. 

Ng Chin-fung as Crown Prince Dan of Yan

Yuen Siu-fai as Jing Ke

Wan Fai-yin as Consort Yan

Leung Wai-hong as King of Yan (former) / Jing Ke’s mother (latter)

Wan Yuk-yu as Fan Wuji

Ko Lai as Jing Ke’s wife

Kwok Kai-fai as Tian Guang

Vong Seng-pan as Ge Nie

Wan Yiu-sing as Qin Wuyang

Ng Kwok-wa as Gao Jianli

Running Time: Approx. 3 hours and 30 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.

Information provided by the arts group.

Please refer to Chinese version.

Sun Moon Star Cantonese Opera: "Lu Buwei – A Kingly Potential Asset" and "The Story of Jing Ke" from "The Warring States Chronicle" (Re-run)

DATE

VENUE

PRICE

15.10.2022 (Sat)
19:30

Auditorium, Tuen Mun Town Hall

$320,$260,$200,$140

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21.10.2022 (Fri)
19:30

Auditorium, Sha Tin Town Hall

$380,$300,$220,$140

BUY NOW

28.10.2022 (Fri)
19:30

29.10.2022 (Sat)
19:30

Theatre, Ko Shan Theatre

$380,$300,$220,$140

BUY NOW

DATE

15.10.2022 (Sat)
19:30

VENUE

Auditorium, Tuen Mun Town Hall

PRICE

$320,$260,$200,$140

BUY NOW

DATE

21.10.2022 (Fri)
19:30

VENUE

Auditorium, Sha Tin Town Hall

PRICE

$380,$300,$220,$140

BUY NOW

DATE

28.10.2022 (Fri)
19:30

29.10.2022 (Sat)
19:30

VENUE

Theatre, Ko Shan Theatre

PRICE

$380,$300,$220,$140

BUY NOW

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