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Cantonese opera stars will perform three selected works of Sit Kok-sin, namely "Marriage Made in Heaven", "The Smile of a Beauty" and "The Dream Meeting between Emperor Wu of Hon and Lady Wei", in May to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Sit Kok-sin¡¦s death.
Performing virtuosi will include Ng Chin-fung, Wong Chiu-kwan, Wan Yuk-yu (May 10 only), Johnson Yuen (May 28 and 29 only), Kwok Kai-fai, Lam Po-chu and Sun Kim-long. Details of the performances are as follows:
May 10 (Tuesday), 7.30pm
Auditorium, Tsuen Wan Town Hall
Programme: "Marriage Made in Heaven"
Tickets: $100 to $280
Synopsis: The troops of the Eastern Liao kingdom invade the Western Qin kingdom, leading the Western Qin to seek help from Southern Yan. The military general of the Southern Yan, An Dinghua, wins the battle and captures the Liao princess, Zhao Sulan. Prince Yulin of Southern Yan ascends the throne. In order to honour the triumph, he intends to marry Princess Fengyi to An Dinghua. However, Fengyi has made a secret promise to marry the King of Western Qin, Ding Yaolong, so she rejects Dinghua. Dinghua peeps into the royal garden where he sees the queen and the princess playing, an offence for which he is forced to kneel. Subsequently, Dinghua picks up the queen's imperial jade pendant. He plans to send it to Yaolong as a gift so as to ruin the marriage between Yaolong and Fengyi, as well as to avenge the queen. The queen is therefore sent to prison...
May 28 (Saturday), 7.30pm
Auditorium, Tuen Mun Town Hall
Programme: "The Smile of a Beauty"
Tickets: $100 to $260
Synopsis: Zhou Luyi and Zhang Jiping compete in dating Baofu. Although Baofu loves Jiping, her parents order her to marry Luyi. On the wedding day, Jiping goes in person to query the marriage, where he gets into conflict with Luyi as he is about to receive his bride. Baofu is accidentally wounded by a poisonous dart-like weapon, and Baofu dies in sadness. Before Baofu dies, she orders Luyi to marry her maid, Qiuyun. Luyi sadly agrees as Baofu died to save him. Twenty years later, Luyi's daughter, Yanfei, is torn between two young military generals, Zhang Shaoping and Gu Qingkong. Although Yanfei is in love with Shaoping, when Luyi discovers that Zhang Shaoping is Zhang Jiping's son, he strongly objects to this suitor...
May 29 (Sunday), 7.30pm
Auditorium, Tai Po Civic Centre
Programme: "The Dream Meeting between Emperor Wu of Hon and Lady Wei"
Tickets: $100 to $220
Synopsis: Emperor Wu of Han ascends the throne at a young age, while the actual power is held by Empress Chen and her brother. He can only wait to act as ruler at the appropriate time. Missing his sister Pingyang, who lives as a widow in Baling, Emperor Wu pays her a visit in plain clothes. Pingyang has always been fond of a poor husbandry serf, Wei Qing, so she makes special arrangements for his sister, Wei Ziqing, to see Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu falls in love with Wei Ziqing at first sight, immediately making her Lady Wei and promoting Wei Qing to be an imperial guard. Later, the two of them return to the palace. When the Huns invade the country, Wei Qing is elevated to General to lead the fight against the Huns. Empress Chen is calculating and jealous. She speaks ill of Lady Wei in front of Empress Dowager Dou, resulting in Lady Wei being sent to the cold palace...
Born Sit Jok-mui, and also known as Luen-mui, Sit Kok-sin was a good actor of romance scenes. In 1921, he joined the Huanqiu Band in Guangzhou to polish the art, and became a protégé of his brother-in-law, Sun Siu-wah. The artistic life of Sit Kok-sin can be divided into three stages. During the "learning and development" stage, Sit was involved with other drama sectors, but especially with film and Peking opera; during the "fly high" period, Sit and Ma Si-tsang competed in the artistic arena, and both were highly creative; finally, Sit's "decline" period took place during the Japanese invasion, which caused him serious injury. His performance after the war could not be compared to his flourishing early career, and he died at the early age of 52.
The "Selected Works of Sit Kok-sin" is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Tickets are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7325 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/chinese_opera/program_1061.html.¡@
A post-performance talk (in Cantonese) will be held at 7.30pm on June 1 (Wednesday) at AC2, Level 4, Administration Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Speakers will include Ng Chin-fung and Wong Chiu-kwan. Admission is free with limited seats available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Ends/Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Issued at HKT 12:48
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