Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts - Theatre
Dates: February 22-23, 2017
About
The idiom Remain within the Bounds is originated from Wangjiang County in Anhui Province. The original Huangmei Opera Remain within the Bounds talks about the life and people in Anhui.
SHEN Gao was born in today's Wangjiang County at the turn of the Ming and Qing dynasties (1649-1726). He became a jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) due to his extensive learning and knowledge at the age of 47, and a year later he took the office as the prefect of Pingshan County in Sichuan Province.
Huangmei Opera Remain within the Bounds tells the story of SHEN Gao and his young wife Liniang from Leichi of Anhui in the 60th year of Kangxi Period. The couple has been pursuing the self-disciplined and uncorrupted social practices for over 20 years regardless of the environment and encounters, be it good or bad. They never overstep the limits but adhere to the life creed of "Never drinking the unclean water no matter how thirsty and never take the shade of evil tree no matter how tired". They are badly battered in real life, yet they never change their initial intention and finally have left clean names in the world to be praised and spread for all generations.
CreditsPlaywright: WANG Xiaoma
Stage Director: LI Jianping
Composer: XU Daiquan
Orchestration: DONG Runhuai
Stage Designer: TU Jun
Lighting Designer: ZHANG Shunchang
Costume Designer: YU Jian
Movements Designers: ZHANG Lei, ZHOU Aibao
Video Designer: YANG Yi
CastSHEN Gao: YU Shun
Liniang: ZHAO Yuanyuan
SHEN Gao's mother: WU Fengxia
Jun'er: ZHANG Xiaowei
Imperial envoy: YAO Entian
Leader: YANG Qiyong
Four evils of Pingshan County: SHEN Liangxue, ZHANG Li, WANG Xiaoduo, YUAN Wei
Presenter
Anhui Huangmei Opera Theatre
In the last 200 years, the art of Huangmei Opera appeared on the stage in its grassroots form and gradually grew from a popular local form of opera to a nationally-influential opera. After the foundation of New China, Huangmei Opera experienced rapid development, becoming increasingly popular in China. It has become the most powerful brand and most iconic opera of Anhui's cultural arts, and a famous artform both in China and abroad.
Such excellent traditional operas as Angle Matches, The Female Consort Princess and Handkerchief Story, and such operas adapted from folklore and Chinese and foreign classical masterworks as Qiang Tou Ma Shang, Jiang’s Eldest Girl, The Butterfly Lovers, Dream of the Red Mansion, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow and Much Ado About Nothing are performed at the Anhui Huangmei Opera Theatre all year round. Huangmei Opera promotes Chinese traditional cultural charm. Such newly performed operas as The Female Painter, Beauties in Wind and Rain, Papaya Listing, Thunderstorm, Farewell My Concubine, Backfire and Businessman HU Xueyan created in recent years conform with the times and the improvement and developments of the aesthetic tastes of society.
Several operas have won prizes in important national competitions in China. Thunderstorm won the Top Ten Drama Prize in the 2007-2008 Annual National Best Stage Art Project. The Song of Everlasting Sorrow obtained the Wenhua New Opera Award at the 7th China Art Festival. Backfire took the Second Prize for National Local Outstanding Opera Performance, and Beauties in Wind and Rain won the Wenhua New Opera Award at the 9th China Art Festival.[source:National Centre for the Performing Arts]
