Upcoming Shows in Vancouver

VSCPA is proud to announce, for the first time ever in Vancouver, a Kunqu performance. We are honoured by the visit of three preeminent artists of the Shanghai Kunqu stage: Liang Guyin, Ji Zhenhua and Liu Yilong.

June 16th and 17th, 2008 at 7:30 pm.
Frederic Wood Theatre, UBC.
Tickets available through

All three performers belong to a legendary generation of Kunqu artists from the Shanghai stage, born in the early forties and dominating the stage in the years after restrictions on the Chinese stage relaxed in the early 1980s. As a group, they represent a direct link between the present-day and the pre-modern tradition.

Liang Guyin (female role) is a National Performer of the PRC, 1st class and a winner of the highest prize awarded to Chinese theatre performers, the Plum Blossom Prize. Trained by pre-revolutionary masters of the art, she has thrilled three generations of audiences with roles ranging from runaway nuns to betrayed women. Considered a consummate master of stage movement, her emotional versatility has brought her acclaim in both the comic and tragic repertoires. Her performances have earned her accolades at home and abroad, with memorable performances including Sackler Museum of Art, the University of Michigan and the Chicago Cultural Center, as well as tours of Japan and Scandinavia.

Ji Zhenhua (old man role) has earned a reputation for having one of Kunqu’s great voices. In the solemn roles Kunqu assigns to older men, he has appeared as avenging magistrates, severe fathers, emperors and chroniclers of history. Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, he has built an unparalleled reputation in his role-type, earning, among other awards, the Plum Blossom Prize and being names National Performer of the PRC, 1st class. His innovative interpretation of Macbeth in the first production of a Kunqu Shakespeare play earned him nationwide attention.

Liu Yilong (clown) is one of the traditional stage’s greatest living clowns. Excelling in both good-natured and villainous roles, he has single-handedly brought about a revival in Kunqu’s comedic side. Renowned for his mastery of dialect and comic timing, Mr Liu has earned a great following among fans. And as a National Performer of the PRC, he has worked hard to ensure that a new generations of fans keeps Kunqu fans laughing.

Co-presented by UBC Asian Studies and the Institute for Asian Research.

 

Want to volunteer? Help fundraise? Get in touch!

Prof. Catherine Swatek
cswatek@interchange.ubc.ca

Josh Stenberg
josh_stenberg@yahoo.ca