Reviewed: Feb 24

A quick glance at the cast list reveals that most of the actors in this production are in their early 20s, with one of the leads still in her teens.

As part of the Arts Festival programme, The Peach Blossom Fan (1699) is as much about reviving a kunqu classic as it is passing on an ancient operatic genre to a new generation.

Staged by the Jiangsu Province Kunqu Opera and directed by Tian Qinxin, this version of the 17th-century piece by Kong Shangren is a lot shorter than the original, which has about 40 scenes. There are, instead, six scenes and the production lasts a modest three hours.

The Peach Blossom Fan is a love story set against the turbulent final days of the Ming dynasty. Scholar Hou Fangyu (played by Shi Xiaming, below, right) falls in love with courtesan Li Xiangjun (Shan Wen [left, with Shi] and then Luo Chenxue after the intermission) at a time when the emperor and his people's loyalty are being challenged.

Thanks to her righteous character, Li has offended the treacherous Ruan Dacheng (Zhao Yutao), who plots to thwart her romance with Hou. When he succeeds, Li attempts suicide and her blood is spattered onto a white fan over which the pair had pledged their love. Hou's friend Yang Wencong (Zhou Xin) draws with the bloodstains to depict a peach blossom twig on the fan (hence the title).

In parts, Tian's treatment of the opera is modern and unconventional - for instance, placing the waiting actors and orchestra in full view of the audience. Her shortened version is pacy, but not at the expense of the opera's dramatic and tragic tensions. And the minimalist stage aesthetic works surprisingly well.

The young cast has yet to fully master the craft - some of the vocals were weak and there were a few tumbles on stage - but the future of kunqu is in good hands.