Important Notice | At 7:30 p.m. tonight, CCTV-11 invites you to tune in for the “Tang Xianzu International Drama Exchange Month”!

Airtime:

November 21, 7:30 PM

Broadcast Channel:

CCTV-11 Opera Channel

Things Dialogue, Artistic Innovation

Art knows no boundaries, and hearts speak the same language. Against the broad canvas of East–West cultural exchange, theater, with its unique artistic voice, vividly embodies the wisdom of mutual learning embodied in the principle of “beauty shared by all.” The cross‑cultural dialogue between Tang Xianzu and Shakespeare—centered on “dreams,” “the moon,” and “humanity”—serves as a poetic thread running through the entire evening, conveying a spiritual resonance that transcends mountains and seas. The cross‑disciplinary play “Tang–Shakespeare: A Meeting,” co‑created by Chinese and international artists, transforms the shared emotional aspirations of *The Peony Pavilion* and *Romeo and Juliet* into a powerfully dynamic stage experience. Classic excerpts from Chinese opera—such as “Judge Bao” and “The Female Consort”—alongside songs like “Auld Lang Syne” and the operatic aria “Nessun Dorma,” are brought to life by artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, their timeless melodies awakening deep emotional echoes in the collective memory and stirring a harmonious convergence of souls that reaches beyond national borders.

△ Left: Ren Zhihong as Tang Xianzu; Right: Matthew Giles Grey (UK) as Shakespeare

△ Cross-disciplinary play “Tangsha Hui”

Diverse forms, contemporary expression

The gala brings together a rich array of artistic forms, spotlighting the fresh expressions of traditional Chinese opera within today’s cultural context. National‑style songs such as “Chasing Dreams,” “Actor,” and “The Palace of Changhan,” along with the Yue Opera aria “The Goddess Splits the View,” seamlessly weave operatic elements into contemporary pop culture, sketching a new, “national‑trend” face for this timeless art form. Meanwhile, original operatic works like “A Flourishing Era of All Performing Arts” and “Three Lives, One Dream: The Peony Pavilion,” as well as the song “Four Dreams of Linchuan” and the Xuhe Gaocang rendition of “The Story of the Purple Hairpin,” offer multi‑dimensional explorations of traditional culture—through performance styles, genre arrangements, and more—highlighting its vibrant, modern vitality. The opening dance‑song “Echoes of Yuming” and the theme song “I’m Waiting for You in the Peony Pavilion” echo one another, using music to interpret this cross‑temporal symphony of civilizations.

△ Opening song and dance performance “Echoes of Yuming”

△Song “The Four Dreams of Linchuan”

△ National-style song “Guanghan Palace”

△ Xihu Gaqiang’s “The Purple Hairpin”

Real scene Stage, Immersive deduction

This gala was staged in Fuzhou, Jiangxi—known as the hometown of Tang Xianzu—at the Wenchangli Historical and Cultural District, with the large-scale, real‑world production “Chasing Dreams in The Peony Pavilion” filmed on its floating stage. Wenchangli is not only the birthplace of Tang Xianzu, the “Sage of Eastern Opera,” but also the cradle of his “Four Dreams of Linchuan,” steeped in a profound tradition of Chinese opera. The show ingeniously weaves together local cultural and tourism highlights, creating dreams through the landscape and conveying emotion through setting. Its stage design seamlessly integrates water features and garden aesthetics, where rippling river waters and flickering lanterns shimmer alongside the tender bonds between Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei, guiding audiences into an immersive experience that alternates between reality and illusion, allowing them to savor the poetic allure of “dream” and “love” as envisioned by Tang Xianzu.

△ Main stage of the gala

△ Large-scale live-action performance “Dreaming of the Peony Pavilion”

A land of outstanding people and beautiful scenery, Land of Talented Scholars

Fuzhou is not only the hometown of Tang Xianzu, but also a historic city long renowned as the “Land of Talented Scholars and a Cradle of Culture.” For millennia, this land of exceptional beauty and spiritual vitality has thrived in literary tradition, nurturing such towering figures as Wang Anshi and Zeng Gong—two of the “Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties”—as well as Yan Shu and Yan Jidao, pioneers of the delicate and graceful style of ci poetry, and Lu Jiuyuan, a leading thinker of the School of Mind. Their ideas and talents have together forged Fuzhou’s profound and splendid cultural heritage.

Today, leveraging Tang Xianzu as a cultural ambassador, Fuzhou has successfully hosted seven editions of the “Tang Xianzu International Theatre Exchange Month,” turning “The Peony Pavilion” into a pivotal symbol in international theatrical dialogue. Theatre has become a window, drawing more visitors to Fuzhou’s natural landscapes, historic streets, and rich cultural tapestry, allowing them to experience the city’s profound heritage and distinctive charm—a place where dreams and drama coexist.

△ Mengyuan Scenic Area, Fuzhou City