Scenes from Man Jiang Hong and The Tale Under the Willow Shade (top and below). Photos Provided to China Daily

China National Peking Opera Company presents five award-winning productions to celebrate the traditional art. Chen Nan reports

A new adaptation of the classic Peking Opera Man Jiang Hong (literally River All Red) made its debut on Tuesday at the National Center for the Performing Arts, which unveiled a one-month long festival of 32 classic stage works by nine national performance art troupes at different venues across Beijing.

The opening show of the festival was the opera's first restaging in 50 years by the China National Peking Opera Company (CNPOC) and gathered some of the most respected Peking Opera artists such as Yu Kuizhi, who played the role of Yue Fei, the main character and a patriotic poet during the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), and some young Peking Opera performers.

The opera tells the story of the poet who is regarded as a symbol of loyalty to his country. Man Jiang Hong, a famous poem by Yue Fei, was written after he was captured by invading forces and expresses his love for his country and his anger at the invasion. Due to the false accusation, he was executed at the age of 39.

The CNPOC invited one of the original scriptwriters, Lu Ruiming, to ensure the story's quality. The adaptation not only presents the story of Yue, but updates the production for modern audiences. The new version thrilled audiences with musical arrangements, and costume and stage design that helps the younger generation appreciate the traditional art form.

Another three innovative Peking Opera adaptations will also be performed. The Tale Under the Willow Shade, or Liu Yin Ji, is adapted from the version of 1953, telling the story of the classic romance between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The revised version, starring veteran Peking Opera singers Li Shengsu and Jiang Qihu, keeps the traditional singing and the original century-old love story. However, the new version uses multi-media to create different backgrounds for each scene.

The Tale of a Female Warrior of Yang Family is one of the most famous and staged operas of the CNPOC since it was first staged 51 years ago. The CNPOC has invited 72-year-old Peking Opera master Wang Jinghua to play the leading role of She Taijun, a famous woman general of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) who led other woman generals of the Yang family to fight and defeated the Western Xia. Wang played the role 50 years ago when she was 21 years old.

The Monkey King Uproar in Heaven is also a classic CNPOC opera. Adapted from the classic Journey to the West, the opera has been remade for this festival.

Twilight of the Forbidden City, a new Peking Opera production by playwright He Jiping, revolves around the despotic Empress Dowager Cixi, the inept Emperor Guangxu, the flattering eunuch Li Lianying and the treacherous minister Rong Lu.

It is based on the playwright's earlier play, Deling and Cixi, which she wrote in the early 1990s after moving from Beijing to Hong Kong. It was a big hit when it premiered in Hong Kong in 1998. Twilight of the Forbidden City presents a fresh look at these familiar figures of the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

(China Daily 08/06/2010 page20)