New fans for an old art

The Visit will be the first Huangmei musical, blending traditional Huangmei Opera and Western musicals.

Masterminded by Wu Qiong, a renowned performer of Huangmei Opera that originated in Anhui province, the work will feature original music that uses idioms from Huangmei Opera, jazz and symphonic music. There will also be modern dance.

Based on Swiss playwright Friedrich Durrenmatt's work of the same title, the musical tells a story of revenge. A wealthy old woman returns to her birthplace, the impoverished village of Gullen, where she proceeds to buy the justice denied her when she was pregnant and driven out of town. She promises the village a billion marks, on only one condition - that the lover who betrayed her, Anton Schill, is killed.

By infusing modern music elements and lines relevant to the Chinese society, Wu hopes to attract more young people to the old art of Huangmei Opera.

7:30 pm, July 12. Poly Theater, 14 Dongzhimen Nandajie, Dongcheng district, Beijing. 010-6500-1188.