Chongqing Chuan Theatre
Introduction
The charm of theatrical genres of Sichuan has been recognised since the Tang dynasty. During the dynasties of Ming and Qing, Sichuan Opera rode on the foundation of dengxi (Lantern Opera) and absorbed the unique regional singing styles of Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi and Gansu to develop into an opera that comprises of five different singing styles, namely kunqiang, gaoqiang, huqin, tanxi and traditional dengxi. The resultant format, known as Sichuan Opera, is recited and sung in the Sichuan dialect. It employs a vivid and lively theatrical language. Packed with vibrant regional flavours and filled with life, it is well received by the audience. Chongqing Chuan Theatre brings in full-length production Xiao Feng the Ferocious Tiger. Leading artist Xu Chao will perform sophisticated Sichuan Opera techniques and challenging body gesture routines on stage. The excerpt performance show comes with five classics of Sichuan Opera. Battle at Mount Tielong is a representative poladan (shrew) play in Sichuan Opera. The stylised movements and sleeve routines of the lead character Queen Du are a feast for the eyes. Capturing the Tiger is played by renowned chou (comic) performer Luo Jilong. The play is characterised by the unique Sichuan Opera features to present a tragedy with comedic acting. Plum Blossom Award winner Wu Xi will act in the masterpiece Yearning for the Secular World, a play that requires the main lead female role to play guimendan (highborn female), nudan (maid servant) and huadan (young female) roles with supreme singing and acting skills. The essence of a cappella singing in Sichuan Opera is brought out to its fullest. In Killing Boshe, we find another Plum Blossom Award winner Hu Yubin expresses his regret with Huqin singing. Forcing her Nephew to Take the Imperial Examination is headlined by Sun Yongbo. It highlights the distinguished and admirable charm of xiaosheng (civil male) role in Sichuan Opera.
Chongqing Chuan Theatre
Programme Details
Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
15/7 Sat 7:30pm
Xiao Fang the Ferocious Tiger
Focuses on how a pirate Wang Shiba becomes an ambitious villain Xiao Fang. The main role is played by wuxiaosheng (young martial male) and portrays the viciousness and filthiness of Xiao Fang behind his handsome face through the skills of wuchou (martial comic), paodaichou (civilian comic), xiaoshengchou (young male comic) and caoxiehualian (painted face) in different scenarios. In the scene Flee by the Night, the routines of body gesture are challenging and impressive.
Wang Shiba, also known as “The Ferocious Tiger”, teams up with his brother Wang Shiqi to rob the royal treasury. After the success, Shiqi conquers Mount Hongtai and becomes a gang tyrant. Shiba changes his name to Xiao Fang and flees back to Yongshang, coercing Zhang Cuiniang to be his wife. Later, he slavers the beauty of Yan Gengniang, the wife of a young scholar Jin Dayong, and seizes her step by step. He pretends to be a nice dear friend to Jin and promises to send the couple back to Jiangnan while the voyage leads to endless hell. At Merciless Pier, Xiao Fang kills Jin and pushes Cuiniang into the water. Gengniang tries to kill herself but she is rescued by Lord Changping, who becomes her foster-father after the incident. Lord Changping is recruiting brave warriors as his troop is locked in a face off with the gang in Mount Hongtai. Xiao Fang, now desperate and helpless, changes his name again to Zhao Wan and seeks refuge from Lord Changping. To gain the Lord’s trust and admiration, he secretly gets back to the Mountain, kills his own brother Shiqi and destroys the gang. Lord Changping is pleased and appreciates Xiao Fang, he wants to make match between Xiao and his foster-daughter Gengniang. But Gengniang discovers and reveals the true identity of this “Zhao Wan”. When everything is exposed, Xiao Fang still tries to kill Lord Changping, attempts to grasp at straws. Finally he gets killed. Originated from Gengniang from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, this play is further edited based on Conquering the Mount Hongtai by Peng Haiqing and Wang Guoren of Ya’an Chuan Theatre.
Scene One Robbing the Royal Treasury
Scene Two Hearing the Bad News
Scene Three Slavering the Beauty
Scene Four Slaughtering at the Boat
Scene Five Fostering Gengniang
－ Intermission of 15 minutes －
Scene Six Enveloping Mount Hongtai
Scene Seven Fleeing by the Night
Scene Eight Killing the Brother
Scene Nine Eliminating the Demon
Cast
Xiao Fang: Xu Chao
Yan Gengniang: Li Qiuping
Zhang Cuiniang: Wang Bei
Jin Dayong: Yi Chuanlin
Wang Shiqi: Feng Sihai
Lord Changping: Wang Tao
Lady Changping: Zhou Yuping
Zhang Ying: Li Run
Show Off: Wang Qi
Commandant Li: Liao Jing
Captain Sun: Hu Yubin (Winner of Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Theatre)
Runners: Zhang Fan, Luo Jilong
Generals: Zhang Yanwei, Zhao Yong
Sidekicks: Shi Chengshuang, Li Wanguo, Rao Chun, Zhao Bangjie
Soldiers: Zhang Qiang, Zhou Jiang, Liu Jianming, Chen Cheng, Luo Xiuhong, Nie Weiwei
Maidens: Luo Xiaowei, Chen Qiujin, Zhou Xingyu, Zhou Lu
Drum: Liu Yonghong
Percussion: Zhang Jianying, Lu Feng, Deng Xiaojun, Gou Ji, Zhao Yang
Strings: Ding Yanran, Ren Xiaolong, Yang Yang, Song Tingting, Qiao Liang, Hou Qiusong
Suona: Liu Feng, Jia Jianjun, Chen Fuwei
Ensemble Leader: Gu Qiu
Ensemble: Ma Huaiqiu, Wang Ya
Script Adaptation: Zeng Xiangming
Director / Instructor: Xia Tingguang
Music Designer: Liu Feng, Liu Yonghong
Coordinator: Peng Guangrong
The running time of the performance is approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes including an intermission of 15 minutes.
Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
16/7 Sun 2:30pm
Excerpts
Battle at Mount Tielong (Gaoqiang)
A representative poladan (shrew) play in Sichuan Opera, characterised by rich stylised movements and varied sleeve routines. Queen Du is both petulant and melancholy – a personality that is challenging to master. The audience can also observe the charisma of a dawusheng (leading martial male) role from the character Tie Mu’er in this play.
An excerpt from the full length play The Pearl of the Emperor. After Emperor Yingzong of the Yuan dynasty passed away, the treacherous plots of Queen Du and her brother Cai Zhonghua are exposed. Feeling ashamed and furious, Queen Du wants to purge the princes Yiliu and Shuoyuan. Four senior officials urge to Mount Tielong, where the oldest prince Tie Mu’er was banished, to seek help with the emergency. Tie Mu’er leads his troops to return to the capital city and takes over the execution ground. The treacherous officials, including Cai Zhonghua, are executed. Queen Du is in rage and she makes a scene. Tie Mu’er secretly orders his military officer Niu Naicheng to kill her.
Cast
Queen Du: Zhou Lu
Tie Mu’ er: Xu Chao
Niu Naicheng: Zhao Bangjie
Tie Shuoyuan: Zhang Fan
Yiliu: Zhang Yanwei
Generals: Li Wanguo, Rao Chun, Zhao Yong, Nie Weiwei
Traitors: Shi Chengshuang, Feng Sihai
Offcials: Li Run, Zhang Qiang
Soldiers: Yi Chuanlin, Zhou Jiang, Luo Xiuhong, Liao Jing
Drum: Liu Yonghong
Capturing the Tiger (Dengxi)
This traditional Lantern Opera is characterised by the unique Sichuan Opera features to present a tragedy with a comedic acting. The more the character cries in a play, the more the audience laughs.
The magistrate county mistakes the name of his runner Ru Deshan as a nickname that means “he who can go up the hill”. Ru Deshan is sent to the hill to catch a man-eating tiger. Ru keeps crying on his way, during which a series of funny events take place. In the end, he surprisingly catches the tiger.
Cast
Ru Deshan: Luo Jilong
Tiger: Wang Qi
Drum: Gou Ji
Qin: Liu Feng
Yearning for the Secular World (Gaoqiang)
In the Chinese opera community, there is a saying that “male actors feel pressure with the play Flee by Night, and female ones, Yearning for the Secular World”. The performance of the character Sekong the Nun, fuses the roles of guimendan (highborn female), nudan (maid service) and huadan (young female), and calls for a supreme singing and acting skills. The essence of a cappella singing in Sichuan Opera is brought out to its fullest.
Yearning for the Secular World is a renowned traditional Chinese opera classic. The story is about a young nun Sekong, who feels lonely in her religious practices and is yearning for the life of the secular world. The opportunity finally arises – there is no one else at the convent, and Sekong takes off her kasaya and quietly leaves.
Cast
Sekong: Wu Xi (Winner of Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Theatre)
Drum: Gou Ji
Ensemble Leader: Ma Huaiqiu
– Intermission of 15 minutes –
Killing Boshe (Huqin)
This repertoire has passed down for generations and continues to gain fame and popularity. The story is told and the personality of the characters is illustrated through acting, singing and the tempo fluctuation of the percussion. Through Huqin singing, Cao Cao expresses his selfishness and Chen Gong his regret and shame for fleeing with Cao. Lu Boshe also contributes to proceed the story by provoking conflict between Cao and Chen.
During Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao attempts to assassinate Dong Zhou but fails. He flees to Zhongmu yet is captured by the gate-keeper. Magistrate of Zhongmu Chen Gong detests the autocracy of Dong Zhuo therefore he abandons his career and escapes with Cao Cao. When they arrive at the house of Lu Boshe, an old friend of Cao Cao’s father, Lu welcomes the guests and serves them with meat and wine while his hospitality provokes Cao Cao’s suspicion. The Lu family ends up killed by Cao Cao. Chen blames Cao for his cruelty and realises Cao Cao is not a good ruler to work for. To save himself, he leaves Cao Cao in the middle of the night.
Cast
Chen Gong: Hu Yubin (Winner of Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Theatre )
Cao Cao: Wang Tao
Lu Boshe: Chen Cheng
Drum: Liu Yonghong
Qin: Liu Feng
Forcing her Nephew to Take the Imperial Examination (Gaoqiang)
The stylised movements and sophisticated demeanour of a xiaosheng (civil male) in Sichuan Opera are presented in this play. The specific facial expressions of the role are all expressed in perfection. In the segment of the departure, the performer cleverly makes use of the technical routine of lap – moving the front and back flaps of the garment – to convey the sentiments of not wanting to part.
An excerpt from the full length play The Story of the Jade Hairpin. It is the Song dynasty, scholar Pan Bizheng is living with his aunt at a Taoist temple as he studies for the imperial exam. He secretly falls in love with a Taoist nun Chen Miaochang, but their romance is discovered by the abbess. To protect the reputation of the temple, the abbess forces Pan Bizheng to go to the capital city and sit for his exam.
Cast
Pan Bizheng: Sun Yongbo (Winner of Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Theatre)
Abbess: Zhou Yuping
Chen Miaochang: Li Qiuping
Jin’ an: Wang Qi
Nuns: Chen Qiujin, Zhou Xingyu, Wang Bei, Luo Xiaowei
Drum: Liu Yonghong
Ensemble Leader : Gu Qiu
The running time of the performance is approximately 2 hours 45 minutes including an intermission of 15 minutes.
Information provided by Chongqing Chuan Theatre
Chongqing Chuan Theatre
Performing Group
Chongqing Chuan Theatre
Founded in 1951, Chongqing Chuan Theatre, formerly the Experimental Chuanju Theatre of Chongqing, has a long history. The calligraphy of its name was personally written by Guo Moruo. Over its 60 years of history, the theatre has been striving to explore the art of Sichuan Opera, focusing on innovations in the singing voice and researches of Sichuan Operatic theories. The company has converged veteran masters and renowned leading actors, including seasoned artists Zhang Decheng, Zhou Mulian, Wu Xiaolei, Zhou Yuxiang, Yuan Yukun, etc. and leading young and middle-aged contemporary Sichuan Opera performers, such as virtuoso Shen Tiemei and many others. Its repertoire consists of hundreds of outstanding titles, including The Story of the Wooden Hairpin, The Reincarnation of a Beauty, The Tale Under the Willow Shade, The Story of the Lute, Jinzi, Li Yaxian. The company has performed throughout the country, as well as overseas in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Korea, Japan, etc., playing the messenger that communicates and disseminates culture and tradition between east and west. Shen Tiemei, the current director, is also the vice chairman of Chinese Dramatists' Association, chairman of Chongqing Federation of Literary and Arts Circle and a three-time winner of the Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Theatre.
Chongqing Chuan Theatre
Ticketing
Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall
15/7 Sat 7:30pm
16/7 Sun 2:30pm
$380 
$300 
$220 
$150
With Chinese and English surtitles
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Chongqing Chuan Theatre
Genre
Sichuan Opera
Sichuan Opera, or Chuanju, is a regional opera popular within all of Sichuan, as well as part of the provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou. The operatic genre is a marriage of five artistic styles of singing, namely gaoqiang, kunqu, huqin (also known as pihuang), tanxi (also known as bangzi) and the folk Lantern Opera of Sichuan known as dengxi. There are five types of roles in Sichuan Opera –_xiaosheng (young male), dan (female), susheng (male with beard), hualian (painted face), and chou (comic). Each of these roles has its own system, which comes with a programme of routines. Performance of the roles of wensheng (civil male), xiaochou (young comic), and dan are the most special. They are highly creative in terms of theatrical expression and performance techniques, which fully demonstrate the coexistence of reality and virtuality in Chinese opera, as well as the aesthetical character that condenses into the bare form for conveying connotative meanings. In 2006, Sichuan Opera was approved by the State Council to be included in list of the first batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Chongqing Chuan Theatre
Production Team
Troupe Director: Peng Guangrong
Vice Troupe Director: Zeng Zhen
Cast: Xu Chao, Li Qiuping, Wang Bei, Yi Chuanlin, Feng Sihai, Wang Tao, Zhou Yuping, Li Run, Wang Qi, Liao Jing, Hu Yubin, Zhang Fan, Luo Jilong, Zhang Yanwei, Zhao Yong, Shi Chengshuang, Li Wanguo, Rao Chun, Zhao Bangjie, Zhang Qiang, Zhou Jiang, Liu Jianming, Chen Cheng, Luo Xiuhong, Nie Weiwei, Luo Xiaowei, Chen Qiujin, Zhou Xingyu, Zhou Lu, Wu Xi, Sun Yongbo
Musicians: Liu Yonghong, Gu Qiu, Zhang Jianying, Lu Feng, Deng Xiaojun, Gou Ji, Ding Yanran, Ren Xiaolong, Yang Yang, Song Tingting, Qiao Liang, Hou Qiusong, Liu Feng, Jia Jianjun, Chen Fuwei, Zhao Yang, Ma Huaiqiu, Wang Ya
Stage Art Team
Lighting: Kuang Mingliang, Gao Jin
Sound: Gu Xiao, Chen Yijing
Wardrobe: Li Aina, Zhou Yu Ping, Shi Chengshuang
Props: Liu Jianming
Makeup: Su Junping, Wang Ya
Hats and Hair Accessories: Jiang Bowen
Stage Setup: Liu Jianming, Ju Rundong, Luo Xiuhong, Gao Jin, Kuang Mingliang, Gu Xiao, Chen Yijing, Jiang Bowen
Surtitles: Feng Tiantian
Stage Manager: Zeng Zhen, Pang Guangrong
Publicity and Public Relations: Yuan Wenge, Tu Wei, Wen Li
Photography: Wen Li
Co-ordinator & Planning: Hong Kong Chinese Cultural Arts Distribution Company Limited
House Programme Information and Surtitles Translation: Multilingual Translation Services