Skip to main content

Kunshan Opera Gala 2020

October 11th 2020 will see the start of the 2020 Chinese Opera Gala in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, hosted jointly by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Jiangsu Provincial government. The annual Gala will run until the end of November.

Kunshan is 63km from Shanghai and is the reputed birthplace of Kunqu Opera, formerly noted as such by the Ministry of Culture in March 2003.

The Gala is in its third year, the first being held in 2018, and has previously showcased 232 different opera types. However, this year the Gala will be spotlighting and celebrating a staggering 348 types of opera from across China with 126 plays being performed, representing 25 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. Performances will include 19 grand operas and 107 opera highlights, each of these highlights having been selected as representative of a milestone in the history of Chinese opera.

Gala performances will include Pu Opera, Shaoxing Opera/Shanghai Yueju, Maonan Opera, Kunming Opera, Henan Opera and Kunqu Opera, amongst many others, and ten of the plays to be performed will feature Plum Blossom Award winning actors (the highest theatrical award in China). Whilst highlighting the popularity and unique charm of classic operas the Gala also provides a much needed platform, for some of the more endangered opera forms, to gain national recognition.

The featured plays have not been selected randomly. A two year project, conducting a census of regional operas, has lead to the selection of performances by experts and scholars. There are also a series of complimentary events running parallel to the Gala which will explore and record the rich history of each of the individual operas taking part.

Further inclusions to the Gala will be art exhibitions, university performances and cultural ‘One Hundred Opera’ tours around the Jiangsu region. All touring events will seek to engage a younger audience with the hope of discovering young opera talent.

In previous years the Gala has been watched both live and online and since 2018, the online content from the annual Gala events have amassed a staggering 35 million viewings. Although all performances to be staged live around Kushan and Jiangsu venues, there will inevitably be strict attendance restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the organisers are expecting online viewing figures to rise substantially.

 

Original article published in China Daily -  http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202009/12/WS5f5c3e76a310f55b25a82224_1.html?fbclid=IwAR3_yAoO1cphPC11qJUTOXsc4zMEKb9KYzecjwG476rkzpRxJHvqgdA-R98 {Accessed: 16 September 2020]

Edited by: Ken Proctor