Excerpts of Kun Opera insists on maintaining traditions
The 26th Macao Arts Festival, organised by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, proceeds in full swing presenting a number of performances this week. In particular, the Jiangsu Performing Arts Group Kun Opera Theatre will stage 1699 The Peach Blossom Fan – Kun Opera on 16 May (Saturday) and Kun Opera Excerpts on 17 May (Sunday). Chinese traditional cultural achievements will be thus represented in modern theatre to magnificently demonstrate the quintessence of this item of intangible cultural heritage. 1699 The Peach Blossom Fan – Kun Opera features up-and-coming young actors and paragons of Kun Opera from Jiangsu Province. The production has invested lavishly in the quality of its costumes and sets: the most valued long sleeve costumes were manufactured with the single thread embroidering method, while the other 291 clothing items and accessories are all handmade; the stage is framed with translucent water paintings representative of the Ming era based on the concept of ‘Heaven, Earth and Man’, restoring the prosperous lifestyle of the Qinhuai riverbanks of other times. Director Tian Qinxin collected music scores scattered throughout China producing a 3-hour version of the original work. Although only six of the 44 scenes will be staged, not a single word of the contents has been changed in order to keep to the original text. Kun Opera boasts a long history. In 2001, the United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) unanimously agreed to inscribe Kun Opera on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Performers of Excerpts of Kun Opera by the Jiangsu Performing Arts Group Kun Opera have maintained the unique features of southern Kun Opera in what concerns singing, acting, recitation and acrobatics, carrying the tradition forward while absorbing the new. The troupe performing in Macao on this occasion includes popular and experienced performers who have won numerous awards and have been promoting the art of Kun Opera overseas, causing stir in dozens of countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia and making this art world famous. In addition, this week the Festival also presents the wordless comedy Cocorico. For further enquiries about the 26th Macao Arts Festival, please visit: www.icm.gov.mo/fam.
