'Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera have many ways to interpret a role, especially complicated emotions. Since its birth, Taipei Li-yuan Peking Opera Theater has produced 44 original Peking Opera works, which have been staged nearly 200 times.Īll these works are 'new old plays', a brainchild of Li, in which 'new' refers to new elements and techniques and 'old' means the tradition.Īmong the creations are Yun Luo Mountain, a revised version of a classic Peking Opera work, which Li's father performed, and The Jester, a Peking Opera version of Giuseppe Verdi's classical opera, Rigoletto.įor Li, absorbing new things keeps the Chinese opera fresh.Įvery year, Li travels around the world to watch various shows－from contemporary dance and Broadway performances to rock concerts.įor example, in The Palace of Eternal Life, which premiered in Taipei in June 2016, Li mixed the Peking Opera and Kunqu Opera singing styles. The director of Taipei Li-yuan Peking Opera Theater－which he founded in 1998 after he moved to Taiwan－is pushing the boundaries of traditional theater and reaching out to audiences, especially the younger generation, with performances that give the old art a contemporary touch.įrom Aug 11 to 13, Li will use Beijing's Poly Theater to present three productions: The Palace of Eternal Life, which focuses on the story of Li Longji, the seventh emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and his favorite concubine Yang Yuhuan The Lotus Lamp, which is based on the Chinese legend about Chen Xiang saving his mother and Zhao Kuangyin, the story of the first emperor of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).Īctors from Taiwan and the Chinese mainland, including Tianjin Peking Opera Theater and Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theater, will perform together in the shows. The 67-year-old Peking Opera master, the son of the late master of this old art form, Li Shaochun, does not deny that Peking Opera, which combines singing, dancing, acrobatics and martial arts, like many other such art forms in China, is struggling to survive in the face of a fading fan base.

'Some viewers, mostly seniors, are diehard fans, while young people find this ancient art outdated.' 'These are typical reactions at Peking Opera performances,' says Li Baochun. Some members of the audience are thrilled, shaking their heads to the music, while others block their ears and leave the theater. Taiwan-based Peking Opera master Li Baochun (center) will lead the Taipei Li-yuan Peking Opera Theater in performances at the Poly Theater in Beijing this weekend.

China peking opera theater