The NCPA International Theatre Festival 2019 is coming in June to act out stories of the operatic circle, including what have happened on stage and behind the scenes so that the audiences will feel the charm of Peking Opera and the quintessence of Chinese culture. From June 11^th to 13^th, the Beijing Fenglei Peking Opera Theatre Beijing-style drama Silk Archery Robe with Cut Designs will be staged to unveil the mystery of the costume rental industry of old times. From June 18^th to 23^rd, the NCPA Drama Returning Home on a Snowy Night will hit the stage for a tenth round to reveal the changes of an actor’s fate to show how people in times of trouble awaken and question their own destiny.

Returning Home on a Snowy Night is named after Staying at a Cottage of Mt. Hibiscus on a Night of Snow, which is a poem of the Tang Dynasty: “It’s getting dark in the mountain, but there is still a long way to go. While the thatched cottage looks poor. there comes the sound of bark from the firewood door; maybe the owner has got home on this snowy night.” In 1942, WU Zuguang, a gifted scholar, wrote Returning Home on a Snowy Night, which tells a story about actor WEI Liansheng and the people around him leading a life of joys and sorrows in a precarious situation. This love story of Chinese Opera circle is a classic of the times which reveals how the underclass awakens, questions their merciless fate and struggles against it. In 2012, the NCPA premiered Returning Home on a Snowy Night.

From June 18^th to 23^rd, the main performers ZHANG Qiuge, YU Shaoqun and CHENG Lisha will start a tenth round of performance of Returning Home on a Snowy Night with members of the NCPA Drama Ensemble. ZHANG Qiuge will play SU Hongji, who is a crafty, fierce and ambitious man. YU Shaoqun will continue to play the actor WEI Liansheng. CHENG Lisha will play Yuchun, a gentle but resolute girl. Members of the NCPA Drama Ensemble DONG Wenliang and WANG Haowei will play WANG Xingui and XU Fucheng.

 

Silk Archery Robe with Cut Designs follows the creative idea of writing a biography for Peking Opera artists behind the curtain, turning its attention to the traditional costume rental industry. This drama tells a story about a silk archery robe with cut designs that took place in a Peking Opera troupe of old times, depicting the old Peking Opera artists’ spirit of craftsmanship by which they protected and inherited opera culture. An “archery robe”, known as a robe with archery sleeves, is a military uniform that an artist wears to play an emperor, emperor’s son-in-law or senior military officer on stage. The silk archery robe with cut designs in the drama has a supreme status. It is a gift from the emperor, and there are rules for using it: it mustn’t be seen by peers, off the stage or in the old Sanyiyong Shop, and must be taken out in ceremonial music. ZHU Xiang, the owner of the Sanyiyong Shop, abides by the rules all his life. However, with the changes in society and his outlook on life, ZHU experiences a twist of fate, and so does the silk archery robe with cut designs. For the inheritance of ancient crafts, the ideological struggle against ethics, the test of desires and realities…when walking towards the new era, the protagonist keeps the faith:“good workmanship, objects and rules must be handed down with concentrated attention”.