Next generation sets the stage for art genre's future

For another student Geng Kairui, who specializes in playing huadan (vivacious young female roles), there seems to be an inner connection with the characters in Kunqu Opera's stories that transcends time and space.

While her previous opera education stressed fundamental physical and technical training, since getting enrolled in the academy, she has devoted herself to studying her characters in order to represent them more vividly onstage.

She has performed the character of Chunxiang in The Peony Pavilion, a maid of the protagonist Du Liniang, whose candidness and naivety are in contrast to the latter, a character initially gentle and docile as a result of her upbringing.

"Although she is not the protagonist, I quite like her as she is like a confidante, or in modern terms a 'bestie'. She may be too young to understand the sentiments of Du, but she is always there to support Du," Geng says.

Another character she feels an affinity for is the nun Sekong from the monodrama Sifan, who runs away from the nunnery with the longing for a worldly life.

"To me, this character represents female power and the ability to break free from the constraints of societal norms to pursue what the heart desires," she says.

Despite these ancient characters only existing in texts, she feels closer to them by reading, studying with teachers and watching the renditions of them by other performers.