THE PALACE OF ETERNAL YOUTH & THE PEONY PAVILION Playing At National Centre For The Performing Arts 1/30 - Today

THE PALACE OF ETERNAL YOUTH & THE PEONY PAVILION is playing in China at National Centre for the Perforiming Arts on January 30th and 31st, 2019.

The Palace of Eternal Youth
During Tianbao years in Tang Dynasty, a beauty named YANG Yuhuan has been titled Imperial Concubine by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang because of her gorgeous beauty and talented gift in terms of singing and dancing. Also, he appoints YANG Yuhuan's cousin YANG Guozhong to be the prime minister and gives him great power in the government. However, the An-Shi Rebellion broke out and it shattered and destroyed the beautiful dream of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang and Imperial Concubine Yang. When the Emperor leaves in a hurry and escapes to Maweipo, the generals are so indignant that they kill YANG Guozhong and force Imperial Concubine Yang to hang herself. The latter part of the play describes the memory of the Emperor for Imperial Concubine Yang, as well as their love and reunion in heaven.

The Peony Pavilion
In the Southern Song Dynasty, the Nan'an Prefect DU Bao is bent on moulding her daughter DU Liniang into a noble lady. He employs CHEN Zuiliang, a student of the prefectural school, as Liniang's teacher, and asks the maidservant Chunxiang to be her reading partner. The father instills the "virtues of the queen" into his daughter by means of the Classic of Poetry, one of the "Five Classics" in traditional China. However, contrary to her parents' wishes, Liniang gives her heart completely to the nature. In the fine spring, deeply feeling lonely in the boudoir, she makes her way to the garden with Chunxiang.

Full of blooming flowers, the garden features rosy clouds, emerald pavilions, raindrops in a breeze, waves shrouded in mist and a painted boat on the water. But it still makes Liniang feel cold and cheerless, so she returns in low spirit. Longing for love, Liniang falls asleep leisurely. In her dream, she encounters a young scholar LIU Mengmei in front of the Peony Pavilion. All the flower fairies dance trippingly to eulogize the ardent love between the two pure and sincere young people.

Beautiful dreams are always soon to be interrupted. Although the dream is vivid, she couldn't realize it, only bearing it in mind. Unable to tell her worry to others and recover from her fixation, Liniang falls ill. She portrays herself and inscribes a poem on the portrait. After that, she departs from the world forever with grievance.

When the Jin troops invaded the Southern Song territory, DU Bao is transferred to guard Huaiyang county. Before leaving, he has his deceased daughter buried under the plum tree in the back garden according to her last wish. He also builds a Plum Blossom Taoist Temple and asks a Taoist Nun SHI to take care of it. Out of a dream, the scholar LIU Mengmei also comes to Nan'an county and lives in the Plum Blossom Taoist Temple. One day, he happens to get Liniang's portrait in the garden, and meets her soul. He is told what she has suffered. With great sincerity, her soul lingers in the garden and meets the flower fairies again, who, moved by her infatuation, help her revive from death and get married to LIU Mengmei.

For tickets and more information, please visit http://en.chncpa.org/whatson/zdyc/201811/t20181120_193356.shtml

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