Chunxiang's Schoolroom Prank at C ARTS | C venues | C alto

One of the most beloved comic scenes from the Kunqu repertoire is brought to life in Chunxiang’s Schoolroom Prank. With quick wit and playful energy, a mischievous maid disrupts a rigid schoolroom through teasing exchanges, lyrical banter and comic mischief. Performed in the refined vocal style of traditional Chinese opera with Chinese and English surtitles, movement, music and humour blend in this vibrant and visually rich staging. Particularly for first-time audiences discovering Chinese opera this lively revival offers an accessible and engaging introduction to the grace, rhythm and wit of one of the world’s oldest operatic traditions.

Jingkun Chinese Arts is a UK-based performance company bringing the precision, musicality, and expressive power of Chinese opera to contemporary stages. Combining rigorous classical training with modern theatre practice, the company creates visually striking performances that reconnect traditional forms with today’s audiences.

Directed by Wanjin Li, with music composed by Yuxiao Chen, this production is performed by Wanjin Li, Songyuan He, and Corey Lyu. Drawing on the discipline of Chinese operatic training, the performers combine stylised movement, vocal technique, rhythm, and physical comedy to create a performance language that feels both classical and immediate.

Following its warmly received Brighton Fringe performances, where audiences responded enthusiastically to its humour, physicality, and musical energy, Chunxiang’s Schoolroom Prank brings to life one of the most beloved comic scenes from the Kunqu repertoire. At its centre is the sharp-witted maid Chunxiang, whose playful irreverence transforms a rigid schoolroom into a world of lyrical chaos, quick exchanges, and mischievous humour.

Based on one of the earliest surviving script versions from the late Ming dynasty (c.1598), the production preserves the elegance and musicality of classical Kunqu while reshaping it for contemporary audiences. Rather than treating Kunqu as a museum form, the work embraces its liveliness, rhythm, and theatrical immediacy.

Humour emerges not only through text, but through timing, movement, musical interaction, and stylised gesture. Performed with Chinese and English surtitles, the production offers an inviting entry point for audiences encountering Chinese opera for the first time.

A distinctive element of the production is its exploration of the classical male dan tradition, in which male performers portray female roles. Performed by Corey Lyu, this cross-gender performance style is revisited through a contemporary theatrical perspective, adding new layers of playfulness, ambiguity, and expressive nuance.

Playful, elegant, and full of vitality, Chunxiang’s Schoolroom Prank reveals the comic brilliance and enduring theatrical energy of Kunqu for today’s audiences.