Chinese Theatre Works presents programs of Peking and Kun opera, as well as incorporating these centuries-old art forms into our original productions. For more information about Chinese opera in general, click here.
Chinese Theatre Works’ opera programs present a wide selection of scenes and episodes from the classical Peking and Kunqu repertoire, designed to hold the interest of both Chinese opera connoisseurs and Western audiences less familiar with this art form. The scenes are presented by our company of classically trained Chinese opera performers in full stage makeup and exquisitely embroidered silk costumes, with traditional musical accompaniment. All programs are sung in the original Chinese, with an explanatory lecture in English.
Chinese opera draws its stories from history, novels, folk tales, myths, and legends, transforming them into uniquely stylized, dramatically choreographed performances. Our programs present well-known scenes from the best-known operas, including “Monkey King Steals the Heavenly Peaches”, “The Jade Bracelet”, “Fighting in the Dark”, “Dance of the Judge of Hell”, “The Peony Pavilion”, “Farewell My Concubine”, and many others. As well as these programs presenting a general overview of Chinese opera, we also design programs focusing on specific aspects of the tradition, such as The Art of the Coquette, Dancing Swords: The Art of Stage Combat in Peking Opera and The Art and Life of Mei Lang Fang.
The explanatory lectures accompanying our programs provide comprehensive introductions, in both English and Chinese, to the operas’ characters, roles, stories, and history. They explain the symbolism of the movements, props, costumes, makeup and staging of traditional Chinese opera. The audience is also introduced to the lives and art of our performers as individual artists. Audience participation and questions are also part of the programs.
Chinese Theatre Works’ company features the finest classically-trained Chinese theater artists in the New York City area. The core of the company is a group of extraordinary Chinese opera performers and musicians, highly skilled in performing the traditional repertoire. Several of them, such as Yibing Fan, Yuchen Ren, Bing Yang, Yucheng Xu, and Jiling Li - as well as our Music Directors, drummer Baogang Liu and flautist Liang Wu - have won awards in China recognizing their superlative abilities. All of them have been trained in the best opera academies in China and have toured extensively throughout Asia and Europe before coming to the U.S.
In addition to this remarkable group of performers, we have collaborated with other top-ranked Chinese artists, such as Huixin Bai, Dong Xie, and the stars of Lincoln Center’s remarkable production of the complete Peony Pavilion, Yong Hong Jie and Yuhang Wen.
Our opera programs are designed and moderated by Artistic Director Kuang-Yu Fong, who has performed and directed for over twenty years after majoring in Chinese Opera at the Taiwan Cultural University in Taipei and receiving an MA in Educational Theater from NYU. She has taught at Pace University since 1990.