Spotlight on Peking opera: Chinese Opera Festival celebrates centuries-old ‘national’ art form
- Leading China National Peking Opera Company and Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company performers to help launch two-month event
- Performances at Xiqu Centre highlight elaborate movements, extravagant facial make-up and signature high-pitched singing
While Cantonese opera has become a hot topic – since April’s satirical Cantonese opera in Hong Kong, Trump on Show, detailing the life of US President Donald Trump – a forthcoming arts festival will allow Hongkongers to enjoy the most internationally renowned form of Chinese opera at home.
The Peking opera, also known as Jingju, has been fully developed since the 19th century and is listed on the Unesco List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
The performance, known internationally as the “national opera” of China, is characterised by elaborate movements, extravagant facial make-up and high-pitched singing.
Two esteemed performing groups from northern and southern China, the China National Peking Opera Company and Shanghai Jingju Theatre Company, will be visiting Hong Kong to perform masterpieces of the genre.
They will perform six opening shows at the city’s Chinese Opera Festival, which runs from on June 13 until August 18.
The inaugural performances will take place at the Xiqu Centre – the name of which literally translates as “Chinese Opera Centre” – a newly opened arts venue dedicated to traditional Chinese opera on the edge of the West Kowloon Cultural District.
