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A Peking Opera drama made its debut in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on April 19, presenting Chinese traditional culture to local citizens.
The drama is called Netting, a literal translation from its Chinese name 网子, a beanie-looking wig covering the head of the Peking Opera performers as a hair accessory.
With netting as a clue, the drama tells a touching story of a Peking Opera troupe in former times. A character named Qiuzi who loses money in business and wants to commit suicide accidently finds an abandoned baby boy and raises him as a Peking Opera performer.
"The best part is that it uses the way of drama to show Peking Opera in essence, a perfect combination of Peking Opera with some other artistic expressions and technological means," said Song Yan, head of the Beijing Fenglei Peking Opera Troupe, creator of the drama.
This new combination is much easier for audiences, especially young ones, to accept compared to traditional Peking Opera performances, enabling them to better understand Peking Opera's content and charm, Song added.
An audience member named Li, with tears in his eyes after watching the drama, said it recalled many his memories about living in Beijing when he was young. The bass drum play in one act, despite without any dialogue, sent every beat deep into his heart, he said.
Many young viewers said they began to take an interest in Peking Opera after seeing the performance.
The drama premiered in Beijing in October 2015 and had a full house for over 30 performances.
The Beijing Fenglei Peking Opera Troupe will also visit the National Taiwan University of Arts and the National Taiwan College of Performing Arts for cultural exchange.
