When Tang Xianzu Met Shakespeare

Left photo: In Stratford-upon-Avon, England—the birthplace of William Shakespeare—actors portray Juliet from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” (photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Han Yan, July 21, 2016); right photo: In Fuzhou, Jiangxi Province, China—the hometown of Tang Xianzu—actors perform as Liu Mengmei from Tang Xianzu’s “The Peony Pavilion” (photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhou Mi, October 11, 2016; composite image). This year marks the 400th anniversary of the deaths of the two theatrical masters, Shakespeare and Tang Xianzu. Four centuries ago, the two giants lived on opposite ends of the globe, each with a vastly different cultural background, yet they both turned to drama in their quest for truth, goodness, and beauty. Four hundred years later, two photojournalists—one from Xinhua’s Jiangxi bureau and the other from its London bureau—have used imagery to bring these two masters together across time and space. Photo by Xinhua.

Mr. Tang’s dialect‑based rendition of the “Four Dreams of Linchuan” was presented in grand style at the National Centre for the Performing Arts.

People’s Daily Online, Beijing, October 17 — On the evening of the 16th, the Xiangyin–style (Xuhe Gaocang) production of “The Four Dreams of Linchuan” was staged at the National Centre for the Performing Arts’ Drama Theatre, with the performance lasting nearly three hours.

The Fuzhou‑dialect version of “The Four Dreams of Linchuan” makes its way into universities: Seeking it within the plays of Master Tang.

In order to see the hometown troupe’s dialect‑infused rendition of “The Four Dreams of Linchuan,” Xing Lihao, a Jiangxi native and student at Renmin University of China, repeatedly urged his junior at Tsinghua University to be sure to help him secure a ticket.

The musical “Tang Xianzu” meets with Shanghai audiences.

In September, the musical will have its premiere in Fuzhou and then embark on a five‑show run in Shanghai, with tickets proving extremely hard to come by. At the press conference, Jiangxi Mobile News reported from Shanghai that special correspondent Xie Mengli covered the event: on November 19, a press conference was held to announce the Shanghai debut of the musical “Tang Xianzu,” with the official opening performance scheduled for that evening. This production is a key highlight of the series of events marking the 400th anniversary of Tang Xianzu’s passing, and it is expected to play a positive role and exert a significant impact in advancing research and promotion of Tang Xianzu’s legacy while celebrating and upholding China’s fine traditional culture.

In 2016, on the 390th anniversary of Tang Xianzu’s passing, a memorial ceremony was held at his tomb.

2012 Second China (Fuzhou) Tang Xianzu Art Festival Academic Forum