Kunqu Opera Mei Lanfang and Yueju Opera Butterfly Lovers are among the productions the Shanghai Oriental Art Center will present during its 12th Classic Chinese Operas Series from March 20 to May 2. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The Shanghai Oriental Art Center will present its 12th Classic Chinese Operas Series, which consists of 14 productions from theater troupes in the Yangtze River Delta region and Hubei province, from March 20 to May 2.

The first theater in China to launch an annual showcase of Chinese folk operas since 2008, SHOAC was forced to cancel the event last year because of the coronavirus outbreak.

This year, the theater will present a grand comeback of the series, including new creations and traditional plays featuring national-award winning artists.

The opening show of the series will be Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy presented by the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe. One of the eight "model plays" in China during the 1960s and '70s, the Peking Opera play is widely loved nationwide. Such is the popularity of this opera that it is on the repertoire of almost all Peking Opera troupes in China.

In 2016, the troupe traveled to 15 cities and put up 20 performances of the show in 40 days. Fu Xiru, an artist with the troupe, has played the character Yang Zirong, a heroic Communist soldier, in more than 100 performances since 2009. Last year, a short video showing Fu backstage between scenes became an internet sensation and was shared thousands of times within days.

"Wherever and whenever we are, people need heroes and enjoy good stories about heroic deeds," Fu told China Daily at the announcement of the series on Jan 12."I am proud to introduce the opera to more younger audiences."

One of the most anticipated productions of the series will be a Pingtan show Gao Bowen Performs Blossoms. Adapted from Blossoms, a novel by Jin Yucheng, the show will be presented in Pingtan, a traditional form of storytelling in the Suzhou dialect.

The novel Blossoms tells of the ups and downs of many people in Shanghai through the past decades, with much of the dialogue in the Shanghai dialect. Pingtan artist Gao Bowen first adapted it for the genre in 2016.

"We have made revisions, updates and adapted the show for varied stage settings," Gao says.

Kunqu Opera Mei Lanfang and Yueju Opera Butterfly Lovers are among the productions the Shanghai Oriental Art Center will present during its 12th Classic Chinese Operas Series from March 20 to May 2. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Traditional Pingtan performances feature a simple setting of just two chairs and two performers telling stories through singing, dialogue and the playing of traditional Chinese string instruments.

At the Shanghai Oriental Art Center, the performance will take place in the large opera hall. "There will be six actors on the stage, and we will take up hundreds of characters in the book," Gao says. The greatest challenge in adapting the novel for Pingtan was that there were many "quiet moments" when nobody spoke a line.

"We spent so much time creating the right words to fill in these silent moments in the book," Gao says."The effort won recognition from Jin Yucheng and filmmaker Wong Kar-Wei, who is adapting the book for movie and TV screens."

This year marks the centennial celebration for the birth of the Communist Party of China, and the Classic Chinese Operas Series will highlight productions featuring the history of the CPC, such as Peking Opera piece The Azalea Mountain and Huju Opera plays, Jiang Jie and Top Secret, both productions by the Shanghai Huju Opera Troupe.

Shi Xiaming, deputy director of the Jiangsu Kunqu Opera Theater, will play the lead role on April 21 in a new production of Kunqu Opera, Mei Lanfang.

Based on true stories of Peking Opera maestro artist Mei Lanfang, the Kunqu Opera production tells of the youthful period when Mei made his debut in Shanghai.

"Few new productions of Kunqu Opera have succeeded set in the modern age. All the failed attempts were due to disrespect for tradition or turning away from the authentic aesthetics of Kunqu," says Shi.

"We took great risk in creating the production and had the premiere in October 2019. I was greatly inspired by Maestro Mei Lanfang himself during the creative process.

"Maestro Mei used to say Shanghai was a difficult place for opera singers, and I'd like to perform for the picky audiences in Shanghai an honest and refined Kunqu Opera of Mei Lanfang."