China's Peking Opera troupe makes fourth return to London
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The China National Peking Opera Company (CNPOC) returned to Britain in the weekend, bringing both classics and reproductions to London's Sadler's Wells Theatre for a four-day show. The debut of "A River All Red" on Saturday night attracted over 1,000 Chinese nationals and Londoners.
This is the fourth time the CNPOC has brought productions to Britain, following its tours in 2005, 2015 and 2016.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of China-UK ambassadorial diplomatic relations. With the troupe's first three tours well-received by British audiences and critics, Chinese Ambassador to the UK Liu Xiaoming called the troupe "a golden brand" for China and UK cultural exchange.
The poster of Peking Opera's "A River All Red" in London/ China.com photo
The poster of Peking Opera's "A River All Red" in London/ China.com photo
The performance of "A River All Red" in London is a reproduction of the classic. The opera is a show presenting all four fundamental elements of the performing art – singing, speaking, acting and fighting.
The company has also made improvements on the original production by fine-tuning the tempo, adding more stage imagery effects with modern multimedia technology.
British audience member Dylan Dryden told Xinhua that the performance of Chinese opera is extraordinary.
"It is very very good, very classic – the costumes and the fashion expressions and the make up and the singing and story – it's very good, I don't understand the Mandarin but I read the story and it's very touching," he said.
Li Shengsu performing in the opera "A River All Red"/ China.com photo
Li Shengsu performing in the opera "A River All Red"/ China.com photo
The opera's leading actor Yu Kuizhi said in an interview with Xinhua that after touring the UK three times, he's seen passionate engagement by the British audience. The attention from the mainstream media and the cultural literacy from locals have also impressed him.
As China's premier Peking Opera organization, the CNPOC is comprised of celebrated performers, playwrights, directors, composers and stage designers. It has accumulated some of the finest repertoire of productions showing the wide diversity of Peking Opera performance styles.
(Front pic: State photo from the opera A River All Red/CNPOC photo)