Opera buff who marries Mozart to modern China

At university, David Li Wei, 42, studied accounting and finance, but it wasn't a path he saw himself following. After graduation, he steered clear of the finance, opting instead to take various jobs, such as a security guard. Then, in 1999, he decided to pursue a career as an artist, setting his sights on opera. As a director and producer, he established his own opera house in 2007, and he often travels to Rome and Paris for performances. He wants to make comic operas popular on the mainland by tailoring the content to local tastes and limiting ticket prices to less than 300 yuan (HK$370).

Which operas have you chosen to adapt?

So far we have chosen only well-recognised comedies for our audiences. We have localised about 10 since 2007. They include The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart; The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar; Cinderella; and La Boheme by Puccini.

What changes do you make?

The story is written in Chinese, and the actors speak in Chinese, but they still sing the songs in their original language because our language does not fit the melody and the musical style. We add some localised content to the story. For example, we talked about the Asian Games when staging The Merry Widow in Guangzhou last year, and we even added a line that says people go to Dongguan for prostitution. In The Marriage of Figaro, our actors spoke in a northeastern dialect and Shanghainese for the characters who like to stir up trouble between people and who are tough. I believe this allows our audiences to feel connected to the story and appreciate the play. However, of course, the structure and the theme of the original story are not changed. The Marriage of Figaro still focuses on the polarisation between the rich and the poor, and the dark side of those in power.

Why do you want to localise the operas?