Suzhou Symphony Orchestra revisits 'Dream of the Red Chamber' in new production

Perhaps the production's most striking idea is its "two Jia Baoyu". Ouyang narrates as someone looking back across four decades, while a younger performer embodies Jia Baoyu inside the story itself. Together they create a dialogue between memory and youth.

"It becomes a conversation across time," Xu says.

"One Baoyu is living through the story. The other understands what those experiences have meant."

Music carries much of that conversation. Erhu (Chinese fiddle) master Zhu Changyao has spent more than 20 years performing instrumental versions of Wang Liping's celebrated Dream of the Red Chamber melodies. Yet performing them inside a complete theatrical narrative offered a different experience.

"Every phrase now belongs to the characters' lives," Zhu says.

"The erhu becomes their voice."