As a professional troupe based in the birthplace of Kunqu Opera, the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre of Jiangsu Province is committed to inheriting the time-honoured traditional style and authentic features of Kunqu Opera. After the generation named “Chuan”, the Theatre has given birth to five other generations of Kunqu Opera artists for Suzhou, including “Ji, Cheng, Hong, Yang, Zhen”. WANG Fang has won the Plum Blossom Prize twice, and the Best Actress Award for Performance at the 24^th Shanghai TV Festival Magnolia Awards. SHEN Fengying, YU Jiulin and ZHOU Xuefeng have won the Plum Blossom Prize. Over the past decade, the Theatre has successfully produced and staged many brand-name operas including The Peony Pavilion and The Palace of Eternal Youth (Youth Edition), Chinese-Japanese The Peony Pavilion, Story of the Jade Hairpin, Xishi, Mount Lanke, The Matchmaker, Jade Tablets All Over Bed, The Story of the White Rabbit, The White Gown, The Legend of the White Snake, Tale of the Pipa, The Story of A Hero, Fifteen Strings of Cash, Story of the Hairpin and Bracelet, etc. That’s really a big deal in the Kunqu Opera circles and even cultural circles. While inheriting artistic classics, the Theatre is devoted to promoting the excellent traditional culture, thus rejuvenating the Kunqu Opera art in the current era, making Kunqu Opera a remarkable cultural phenomenon and opening up a useful path for inheritance of the national culture.

The New Branch of the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre of Jiangsu Province, a major public cultural facility project selected for priority construction in the “Twelfth Five-Year” Plan of Suzhou City in December, 2014 and a practical project implemented by the Suzhou Municipal Government, has been completed and put into use. As a comprehensive platform where the Kunqu Opera art is exhibited and promoted, the New Branch is used to inherit the art, hold theatre performances, carry out education and training, and offer public services.

The Theatre has won the honourary title of Advanced Collective in the National Cultural System, First-Class Merit and Second-Class Merit by the Jiangsu Provincial Government, Second-Class Merit and Third-Class Merit twice by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture, Second-Class Merit and Third-Class Merit by Suzhou City, and so on.