Kennedy Theatre Will Celebrate Chinese New Year with FIGHTS & DELIGHTS

The University of Hawai'i at M?noa's Department of Theatre + Dance will present Fights & Delights: Three Chinese Comedies, co-directed by Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak and Mark Branner. Highlighting the vibrancy of traditional Chinese theatre, the three plays celebrate the chou, or comic character, who continually reveals the laughter in life. As it gets closer to opening night of the production on February 16, Chinese New Year, Kennedy Theatre is excited to announce additional information and provide more photos illustrating the beauty of these delightful plays. Fights & Delights: Three Chinese Comedies runs February 16, 17, 23, and 24 at 7:30 p.m., and on February 18 and 25 at 2:00 p.m. on the Kennedy Theatre Mainstage. Free pre-show chats will be held on February 17 and 24 at 6:45 p.m. Saturday, February 17 is "Throwback Saturday" with tickets only $5.00-$15.00. Regularly priced tickets are just $8.00-$25.00. The shows will be performed in English.

Four master artists from China have been in residence with the UHM Department of Theatre + Dance since August 2017, teaching xiqu voice and movement as well as training the actors in their roles. Mr. Lu Genzhang (pictured right), who performs laosheng (older male) roles, is a National Actor of the First (highest possible) Rank and an Emeritus Leading Actor with the Jiangsu Province Jingju Company. This will be Lu's seventh residency at UHM training students to perform in Jingju plays. He teaches acting, movement, and voice for all of the male-voice roles in "Treasure in the Chest" and "Where Three Roads Meet." Mr. Xu Mingchi (pictured left), who performs chou roles, is a National Actor of the First Rank and a Leading Actor with the Chuanju Company. This year marks his first teaching residency at UHM; he teaches acting, movement, and voice for all of the roles in "Pi Jin Rolls the Lamp." Ms. Zhang Ling (pictured right), who performs dan (young female) roles, is a National Actor of the First Rank and an Emeritus Leading Actor with the Jiangsu Province Jingju Company. This is Ms. Zhang's fourth residency training UHM students; she teaches acting, movement, and voice for all of the female-voice roles in "Treasure in the Chest" and "Where Three Roads Meet." Mr. Zhang Xigui (pictured left), a conductor and percussionist who is also proficient on a wide range of string and wind instruments, is a National Instrumentalist of the Second (second highest possible) Rank and an Emeritus Leading Instrumentalist with the Jiangsu Province Jingju Company. This is Mr. Zhang's fourth residency instructing UHM students; he teaches technique and interpretation for all the musical instruments (melodic and percussive) for all three plays.

The three Chinese comedies featured in Fights & Delights are: the chuanju; "Pi Jin Rolls the Lamp," and the two jingju; "Treasure in the Chest" and "Where Three Roads Meet." "Treasure in the Chest" tells the story of a young woman who hides a young scholar in her family's chest to protect him from two officers hot on his trail while her family is out trying to arrange a marriage for her. "Pi Jin Rolls the Lamp" recounts the tale of a wife punishing her husband for his gambling problem by making him perform spectacular acrobatics while balancing a candle on his head. "Where Three Roads Meet" relates a story about the famous Chinese general, Jiao Zan, as he escapes capture by two officers at an inn where mistaken identities lead to a virtuoso fight in the dark between an inn keeper and a young warrior trying to protect Jiao Zan.

Tickets for Fights & Delights: Three Chinese Comedies are available 24/7 online at etickethawaii.com, by phone at (808) 944-2697, and at official outlets. Cash sales at the Kennedy Theatre Box Office begin on February 12th from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Monday through Friday with extended sales hours on show days.

To post a comment, you must register and login.

 

---

Join Team BroadwayWorld

Are you an avid theatergoer? We're looking for people like you to share your thoughts and insights with our readers. Team BroadwayWorld members get access to shows to review, conduct interviews with artists, and the opportunity to meet and network with fellow theatre lovers and arts workers.

Interested? Learn more here.

---