New Delhi: With the astounding growth of the global diversity of cultures in India, China is set to showcase its awe-inspiring talent in the field of theatre in the country.
In order to display the simplicity of theatre culture across the borders, Kungu Opera is bringing ‘The Peony Pavilion' to India.
Kunqu (pronounced kwinchu) is one of the oldest and most refined styles of traditional Chinese theatre performed today. It is a synthesis of drama, opera, ballet, poetry recital, and musical recital, which also draw on earlier forms of Chinese theatrical performances such as mime, farce, acrobatics, ballad recital, and medley, some of which go back to the third century B.C.
It is listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO since 2001. The Play that will be performed in Mumbai and Delhi is “The Peony Pavilion”.
It is a play written by Tang Xianzu in the Ming Dynasty and was first performed in 1598. It is the most popular play of the Ming Dynasty.
The story board:
It's a classic love story that traces the last days of the Southern Song Dynasty. A maid persuades the sixteen-year-old daughter of an important official, to take a walk in the garden, where she falls asleep and in her dream encounters a young scholar.
A flaming romance between the two flourishes rapidly. The girls dream is interrupted by a flower petal falling on her. She however, becomes preoccupied with her dream affair and her lovesickness quickly consumes her. Unable to recover from her fixation, she wastes away and dies.
In the underworld the judges decide that a marriage between the girl and scholar is pre-destined http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predestined and she ought to return to the earthly world. What follows next is the formula of many Chinese comedies.
Interpretation:
• The lyrical prose of the Peony Pavilion weave a fabric of nuances and metaphors that elegantly transgresses the divide between the beauty of nature and man's inner cosmos of emotions and desires.
• It drives forth the persistent tone of youthful optimism. The magic of the play's language quickly carries the audience to a unique experience of literary and musical pleasure.
• The goal of this youth-oriented production was to "give new life to the art form, cultivate a new generation of Kunqu aficionados, and offer respect to playwright Tang and all the master artists that came before
The Peony Pavillion has earlier been performed:
• In 1999 at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and toured extensively, playing in New York, Paris, Milan, Singapore, Caen, Charleston, Aarhus, Berlin, Perth and Vienna.
• The David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center for four performances in early January 2012.
For the audiences in India the language barrier of the play will be bridged by live English transcriptions on LED screens on either side of the stage.
Watch the video to delve yourself in the visually stunning sneak peak of the same here…
