*********************************************
Fung Cheung Hung Troupe will perform three traditional Cantonese operas in October. The shows are presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
Details of the performances are as follows:
October 18 (Sunday), 7.30pm
Auditorium, Tuen Mun Town Hall
Programme: "The Tragedy of the Butterfly Lovers"
Performers: Wai Chun-fai, Nam Fung, Leung Wai-hong, Liu Kwok-sum, Cheng Wing-mui, Kwan Hoi-shan
Synopsis: A young lady named Zhu Yingtai wants very much to go to Hangzhou to study under a famous scholar. But since only boys can attend school, she promises to go in disguise. After much persuasion, she manages to convince her father to let her go. She and her maid, Renxin, disguise themselves as young men and set off. On the way they meet a young man, Liang Shanbo, who is going to the same school, and his page, Shijiu. Yingtai and Shanbo take to each other and become "sworn brothers". For three years, the two study together and live together. Shijiu has long suspected that Yingtai and Renxin are actually girls, and sets traps to test their true identities. Yingtai has already secretly fallen in love with Shanbo, but she is too shy to make the revelation. When she receives a letter from home to urge her to return, Shanbo accompanies her a long way as a farewell. Despite Yingtai's many hints during the long walk, he still fails to work out that his "sworn brother" is actually a girl.
October 19 (Monday), 7.30pm
Theatre, Ko Shan Theatre
Programme: "Sweet Dew on a Beautiful Flower"
Performers: Wai Chun-fai, Nam Fung, Leung Wai-hong, Liu Kwok-sum, Cheng Wing-mui, Song Hongbo
Synopsis: Meng Qiao, son of the Lord of Ning, who encounters and falls in love with a sing-song girl called Shan Yanwen. Impressed by Yanwen's extensive learning that sets her apart from ordinary girls, the lord consents to their marriage. To hide Yanwen's background, the sing-song house is ordered to close down, depriving the other sing-song girls of their living. Mengxia is the one who harbours the bitterest hatred, and it becomes a motive to kill. On the day that Qiao's son reaches his first month, Mengxia poisons Qiao to death. Yanwen gets implicated and is expelled. Eighteen years later, Yanwen manages to reunite with her eldest son. The lord, however, brings up the murder case and orders the execution of Yanwen. In a heartbreaking scene on an execution ground, the son feeds his condemned mother a meal.
October 24 (Saturday), 7.30pm
Auditorium, Tai Po Civic Centre
Programme: "Returning on a Snowy Night"
Performers: Wai Chun-fai, Nam Fung, Kwok Kai-fai, Liu Kwok-sum, Lam Po-chu, Song Hongbo
Synopsis: Guan Zhongfang, the daughter of a famous doctor, loses her eyesight amid the traumas of war, and leads a meagre life with her maid Chuyun. Later Zhongfang meets Qin Mengyu and they fall in love, but the two lose touch with each other in the chaos. General Qin Shuliang, who is in charge of blowing up a bridge, saves Zhongfang and has her eyesight restored. Out of gratitude, she feels obliged to marry Shuliang. On their wedding day, Mengyu, who happens to be the younger brother of Shuliang, is shocked to find out that his new sister-in-law is Zhongfang and falls ill. Their eldest brother, Boxian, unaware of Zhongfang and Mengyu's position, asks the bride to attend to Mengyu's sickness. On seeing each other again, love between Mengyu and Zhongfang is rekindled, and they have a child out of wedlock. Zhongfang's maid Chuyun agrees to claim that she is the mother of the baby. Shuliang is defeated and maimed in battle, and wants to leave home with Zhongfang to live a secluded life. Boxian wants to play matchmaker between Mengyu and Princess Hua Yulan, so he expels Chuyun. On receipt of the wedding invitation, Zhongfang wants to go home to see Mengyu but Shuliang does not allow it. Then Chuyun recounts what happened before. Considering his own disability, Shuliang decides to return Zhongfang to Mengyu. When the Princess is saying her vows, Chuyun and Zhongfang vie for a reunion with Mengyu. As Shuliang says he is willing to take full responsibility for what transpires, Boxian finally lets Mengyu take Chuyun as his concubine, and the Princess cannot but agree to being one of Mengyu's three wives.
Tickets priced from $100 to $260 are now available at URBTIX. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (limited tickets for full-time students and CSSA recipients are available on a first-come, first-served basis). Please refer to the programme leaflet for details.
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7325 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/chinese_opera/program_947.html. For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. Tickets can also be booked online at www.urbtix.hk.
A post-performance talk (to be conducted in Cantonese) will be held at 7.30pm on October 26 (Monday) at AC1, Level 4, Administration Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Speakers will include Wai Chun-fai and Nam Fung. Admission is free with limited seats available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Ends/Monday, August 24, 2015
Issued at HKT 10:31
NNNN
