'Red Wedding Bed' Explores Modern Expression for Age-old Liyuan Opera

Liyuan Opera "Red Wedding Bed" will make its debut for audiences in Shanghai with three consecutive performances on Saturday and Sunday as part of the 25th China Shanghai International Arts Festival.

Directed by Zeng Long, the weekend show is a joint effort of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the Fujian Province Liyuan Opera Inheritance Center, and Zeng Jingping Studio.

Based on "Chen San," a classic ancient script of Liyuan Opera, the play centers on Wuniang, who sits perpetually on the red wedding bed, gazing upon scenes of the past conjured by her longing.

It reconfigures traditional theatrical materials, replacing linear plot development with a framework of reminiscence, and highlighting associative memories and emotional reverberations on the stage.

Zeng Jingping, a leading figure of Liyuan Opera and a two-time winner of the Plum Performance Award, is the artistic director of the production. While adhering to the traditional performance conventions of Liyuan Opera, the play reconstructs the inner memories of the protagonist Wuniang and the artistic exploration of young inheritors through contemporary theatrical vocabulary, aiming to develop a vibrant modern expression for this age-old art form.

Liyuan Opera originated in Quanzhou, southwest China's Fujian Province, during the Song and Yuan Dynasties (960-1368). With a history of nearly 900 years, it is one of China's oldest theatrical forms, a living fossil of Song-Yuan Southern Opera.

In 2002, Liyuan Opera was recognized by the Asia-Pacific Cultural Center as a representative form of China's oral and intangible cultural heritage and included in its Traditional Folk Performing Arts Database. In 2006, it was inscribed in the first group of China's National Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Event info

Date: October 31, 2pm, 7:30pm; November 1, 2pm

Venue: Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center 上海话剧艺术中心

Address: 288 Anfu Rd 安福路288号

Tickets: 100-280 yuan