Pingjun Opera show on wartime story

Mother, a Pingju Opera piece, will be staged in five cities to celebrate the 70th anniversary of China’s victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45).

The show is based on the life story of Deng Yufeng, a woman from an earlier Beijing suburb.

The 1891-born Deng lived in Miyun and lost her sons and husband in the war in the 1930s. Three of her five sons were killed by Japanese invaders and one starved to die when they were forced to hide in a mountain to avoid being captured.

The opera reveals the horrors of the war through the mother’s struggles.

According to its scriptwriter Liu Jinyun, flashback is applied to narrate the incidents involving Deng’s family.

“When I was reading the script, I couldn’t stop my tears as the story is so touching,” said Wang Ping, who plays the lead role of Deng.

The opera has been performed in Shijiazhuang city in Hebei province, Tianjin, Hohhot in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region, and will tour Beijing and Taiyuan in Shanxi province shortly.

Beijing residents can admire the opera on Friday in China’s Pingju Opera Theater. The upcoming show in Taiyuan will be held on Sept 1-2 at Shanxi Theater.