Yangtze Repertory Theater of America Presents Cantonese Opera Adaptation of THE CHALK CIRCLE in May

Joanna Chan, artistic director of Yangtze Repertory Theater of America, has adapted THE CHALK CIRCLE by Li QianFu into a multilingual play with arias in the style of Cantonese Opera.  The arias have lyrics and choreography by Chen ShaoMei (of GuangZhou, China).  

This 13th century Yuan dynasty Chinese classical Zaju verse story is primarily known in the West as the inspiration of Bertolt Brecht's CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE, which recounts a celebrated court case of Judge Bao of the Song Dynasty, a magistrate who stood above the corruption of his time and is still revered throughout the Chinese speaking world for his wisdom and fairmindedness.

THE CHALK CIRCLE is the saga of a beautiful girl named Begonia Zhang, who is sold into a house of prostitution by her impoverished family after her father's death. There she is befriended by Official Ma, a wealthy and childless tax collector, who takes her into his house as his concubine. She bears him a son, Shou Lang, but earns the jealousy of his wife, Mistress Ma.

Aiming to remove Begonia as a threat of inheriting the Ma Family’s fortune, she accuses Begonia of adultery and poisons Official Ma. She then blames Begonia for the crime and claims to a court that Shou Lang is her own child. As Begonia is about to be executed, she is rescued by Judge Bao, who discovers Mistress Ma's deception with a wisdom worthy of King Solomon.

The overall style of the play is earthy, which is characteristic of the stage of the Yuan Dynasty. Even with its tragic central story, there is still slapstick as well as mime and acrobatics.  The setting is basically a bare stage.  These elements are typical of stage creations from different regions in China, which are loosely known as Chinese opera. There are six leads and an ensemble of ten. The heroine's arias are the only sung portions in the original play.

The production will star Denver Chiu (of Hong Kong) in the role of the heroine,  performing her arias in Cantonese Opera style. Chiu has come to New York from Hong Kong to perform the woman's role of Begonia Zhang.  He learned this art form in Canton and has acted these female roles since 2005. He was a principal actor in Hong Kong Repertory while Chan was artistic director in the 1980s.

Judge Bao will be played by Bill Angst, a caucasian actor who was born in Xian, China and grew up in Beijing.  The cast also includes Shang-Ho Huang, Shu-Mei Kwan, Sajeev Pillai, Al Parrick Jo with Tyree Brown, Hugh Cha, Kevin Taejin, Lao Shi-Yan, Phillip Lung, Nicole Mari, Karen Stefano and Viet Vo. The set is designed by K.K. Wong, who collaborated with Chan at Hong Kong Rep in the 80's. Lighting design is by Joyce Liao and choreography is by David Shen.

Yangtze Repertory Theater of America will present the world premiere of the adaptation, directed by Chan, May 3 to 20 at Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, NYC. Performances are Wednesday - Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. General admission is $25, with $20 tickets for students, seniors and groups of 10 or more. There are also Wednesday "Pay what you can" performances. Tickets can be purchased by calling the box office at  212-868-4444 or visiting www.yangtze-rep-theater.org. The play will be performed in English, Mandarin and Cantonese with Chinese and English supertitles.