The Female Official

The Female Official

2017-02-24

Huangmei Opera The Female Official in Hongcun Village

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts - Theatre

Dates: March 04-05, 2017

SynopsisHongcun Village water system has been known as a paragon of ancient Chinese hydrology.

Way back in 1403, HU Zhong, who was appointed as the temporary patriarch of the village by her husband before he took office afar, tried to protect all villagers against the long-term damage by fire hazard as the village was located far away from any rivulet. Later, with the help of HE Keda, Huizhou's geomancy master, the villagers completed an ox-shaped watercourse for enhancing the natural habitat after several years' effort.

During the construction, this beautiful, delicate lady underwent twists and turns like funds shortage and engineering accidents. She also had to face difficulties like gender bias and spite from villagers out of jealousy. To make things worse, her husband not only stayed out for a long time, but also diverted his project fund for a concubine. But all sufferings have their rewards. A crystal stream emerged and began gushing up finally. Such bold attempt has kept the village alive up to now.

After 600 years, the water system has been granted the laurel of "World Cultural Heritage" by UNESCO.

Virtues like wisdom, generosity and tolerance won HU Zhong great acclaim as the most beautiful "village official" ever in China.

PresenterMa'anshan Arts Theatre

Officially registered on June 23rd, 2016, Ma'anshan Arts Theatre Co., Ltd. comprises the song and dance troupe, Huangmei Opera troupe, children's troupe, orchestra and stage performance centre, sound and music production centre, etc.

Since its establishment, the Ma'anshan Arts Theatre has created and staged many music, dance and drama performances with a contemporary spirit and a Jiangnan flavor, and its performances have been scattered widely in such regions as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and so on. It has visited such countries as Korea, Japan and Mexico as a cultural ambassador. It successfully performed the newly-organized mythical Huangmei Opera Qianyujin and the large-scale folk song opera Love Song of Gu River in September, 2010. It has performed the original children's drama Men's Action nearly 500 times in such regions as Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing, winning the first prize at the 8th Anhui Dramatic Performance Arts Festival. Its original dance You Are Like Pictures won the Outstanding Creation Prize at the 9th National Dance Contest in August 2011. It successfully signed a contract with the Beijing Poly Theatre in December, 2011. Its Huangmei Opera Qianyujin was performed in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Hubei provinces in June, 2012. In addition, its stage performance centre has such advanced performance equipment as lighting, sound and stage, with which it has participated many times in various kinds of large-scale parties in Anhui, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Since the establishment of the Theatre, it has staged various kinds of performances including '100 Literary and Artistic Performances in the Grassroots', 'Ma'anshan Music Festival' and 'Ma'anshan Spring Festival Party'.

It also created and performed three stage plays in 2015: the original Huangmei Opera The Female Official in Hongcun Village, the children's musical drama Song on the Backs of Cows and the musical drama Angels by Your Side. In addition, The Female Official in Hongcun Village won the Excellent Play Award of the '2015 Huangmei Opera New Play Performance in the Whole Province' and was listed into the 2015 Anhui Cultural Powerhouse Construction Project and honored as a 2016 Key Performance Play.[source:National Centre for the Performing Arts]

ebeijing