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Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the China Ping Opera Theatre will perform two traditional Ping Operas in June. "Flowers as the Matchmaker" will be staged on June 29 (Sat) at 7.30pm at the Sha Tin Town Hall Auditorium. "The Demotion" will be staged on June 30 (Sun) at 7.30pm at the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre. In addition, a modern Ping Opera "As Zhang Damin happily rattles on" will be staged on June 27 and 28 (Thur and Fri) at 7.30pm at the Kwai Tsing Theatre Auditorium.

"Flowers as the Matchmaker" is a love story. Li Yue'e is in love with Wang Junqing. But Wang's mother sends the matchmaker, Mrs Ruan, to propose marriage to Zhang Wuke. Her son, however, is determined that he would only marry Li, while Li's father does not agree with this idea. With all these oppositions and objections, Mrs Ruan introduces Jia Junying to Zhang and love starts to bloom between them. On the wedding day of Wang and Zhang, Li attempts to commit suicide. Her mother sneaks her into Wang's house to go through the matrimonial rites. Zhang discovers this and is on a rampage. Just at that moment, Mrs Ruan pushes Wang and Jia, into the bridal chambers and so the truth is revealed. It is a happy ending for the two young couples after all.

The main casts of "Flowers as the Matchmaker" are Gu Wenyue, Li Ni and Wang Ping. Gu Wenyue is a National Class One Performer and the winner of the First Plum Blossom Award and Number One among the Top Ten in the National Radio Awards for Ping Opera. She was trained under the famous Ping Opera artist, Xin Feng Xia and has starred in widely acclaimed Ping Operas. Li Ni graduated with distinction from the Ping Opera Course of the Beijing Chinese Opera School in 1993. She was trained by the comic virtuoso Zhao Lirong of Ping Opera fame and an exponent of her style of acting. Li Ni has won the National Ping Opera Young Performers' Award and another Performance Award from the Feng Yi Cup of Beijing City. Wang Ping graduated from the Ping Opera Course of the Beijing Chinese Opera School in 1993. She was a winner of the Beijing City Outstanding Performance Award and the Hong Xuefei Arts Foundation Outstanding Performance Award.

"The Demotion" describes Bian Yixiao gets demoted by the new High Commissioner, Cui Yunlong, for marrying a courtesan, Zhang Xiuyu, as wife. Bian has a case to investigate, so he disguises himself as a fortune-teller and goes to a tea house to gather clues. There he meets Cui, who is also undercover as a doctor. The two become friends, and Bian takes Cui home to stay. Later, Bian lets Cui take his place in presiding at court. Cui deliberately frees a prime suspect. Bian, angry at his misjudgment, sends Cui to prison. His wife also takes Cui to task for not exercising justice. At this point, Cui is finally convinced that Bian and Zhang are a couple of upright principles and feels guilty for demoting Bian.

Han Jianguang and Qi Jianbo are the main casts of this opera. Han Jianguang is a famous performer who is the winner of the First Plum Blossom Award, the Outstanding Young Performer and the Outstanding Performance Award. His performances were highly popular and critics described him as "an asset to Ping Opera". Qi Jianbo is a National Class One Performer and a disciple of Zhang Defu, a master and an icon of a performing style known as the Zhang School in Ping Opera. Qi won many different awards and his performance is widely praised.

Ping Opera is an operatic genre founded in the northern part of China. Its origin could be traced to the Duikou Lianhualuo genre of eastern Hebei, which was also referred to as 'Luozi' or 'Bengbengxi'. By incorporating the music and performing formats of Peking Opera, Clapper Opera, shadow play and Dagu, narrative and singing etc., Ping Opera gradually took shape. It features Putonghua as its vernacular on stage, music that is elegant and appealing, lyrics that are close to the people and easy to understand, and a style of singing, speaking and performing that reflects a high degree of realism. It is therefore highly adaptable to the generic nature of its performances, whether they are traditional opera, newly written historical plays or modern opera. The music belongs to the banqiang style, with the banhu as its major accompanying instrument.

China Ping Opera Theatre was formerly known as the China Ping Opera Troupe and founded in 1955. It has been associated with many of the best known artists in the genre, including the early masters Xin Feng Xia, Hua Yue Xian, Zhang Defu and Zhao Lirong; and the later masters Gu Wenyue, Qi Jianbo, Heng Hong, Han Jianguang and Wang Ping, all of whom have won a firm following of their own. The company has a stock repertory of over three hundred works, some of which are original plays and others are adaptations. They include "Flowers as Matchmaker", "The Demotion" and "As Zhang Damin happily rattles on" etc.

In order to allow the audience to understand more about Ping Opera, a pre-performance talk will be held on June 26 (Wed) at 7.30pm at Rm AC1, Level 4 of the Administration Building at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Speakers Gu Wenyue, Li Wi and Wang Ping will share their opinion on the topic "Ping Opera Virtuoso Gu Wenyue picks up the torch and blazes the trail in her chosen art form."

Tickets priced at $220, $180, $140 and $80 for the performance "Flowers as the Matchmaker"; $220, $150 and $80 for the performance "The Demotion" and $280, $200 and $100 for the performance "As Zhang Damin happily rattles on" are now available at all URBTIX outlets. Half-priced concessions will be granted to senior citizens, people with disabilities, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Recipients. (Limited tickets for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Recipients available on a first-come-first-served basis). There will be a 10% discount for every purchase of 4-9 tickets, 15% for 10-19 tickets and 20% for 20 tickets or more. A 10% discount is also available for Friends of LCSD performing venues. Patrons could enjoy only one of the above discounts for each purchase. Besides, an extra discount is available for student group booking, please call 2268 7256 or 2268 7257 for registration and arrangement.

Programme enquiries can be made on 2268 7323 while ticketing enquiries and reservations on 2734 9009. For credit card telephone booking, please call 2111 5999. Please visit http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/cp for more information on the programme.

End/ Monday, May 6, 2002

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