Ping-Fong Acting Troupe (屏風表演班) is resurrecting Wedding Memories (女兒紅), a heart-warming play, based on the life story of artistic director Hugh Lee’s (李國修) mother, that premiered in 2003.
The production will first take to the stage at Taipei’s Metropolitan Hall (台北市社教館城市舞台) from March 30 to April 8, and then tour the country until May 27.
This is the troupe’s first production since Lee announced he has cancer in December.
Photo courtesy of Ping-Fong Acting Troupe
The semi-biographical play centers on an obedient girl in China who, in an attempt to prevent a family scandal, volunteers to marry the man who impregnated her younger sister.
Because of the Chinese Civil War, in 1949 the couple and their four children fled China to the safety of Taiwan.
The revived production of Wedding Memories stars actress Ji Ching (季芹) as Lee’s mother, Kuo Tzu-chien (郭子乾) as his father, Yang Min (楊閔) as the narrator’s wife and Chen Han-tien (陳漢典) as a boisterous taxi driver.
“The play is Hugh Lee’s search for his roots through his mother’s tale,” said the play’s director, Sanny Huang (黃毓棠), in an interview last week. “Hugh is a Mainlander, but sees himself as Taiwanese.”
The nostalgic play is an emotional sequel to the troupe’s 1996 masterpiece Apocalypse of Beijing Opera (京劇啟示錄), in which Lee paid tribute to his father.
“Lee started writing the story and discovered that his parents didn’t marry for love,” Huang said. “Through uncovering his parents’ tale, he came to understand why his mother suffered from depression.”
With an elegant stage design, pyrotechnics and more than 100 actors in the play’s battle scenes, Ping-Fong, which is renowned for the high quality of its original works, such as the witty satire Shamlet (莎姆雷特), is pulling out all the stops.
Performance Notes
What: Wedding Memories (女兒紅)
When and where: March 30 at 7:30pm, March 31, April 1 and April 7 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm and April 6 and April 8 at 2:30pm at Metropolitan Hall (台北市社教館城市舞台), 25, Bade Rd Sec 3, Taipei City (北市八德路三段25號); April 14 at 7:30pm and April 15 at 2:30pm at Performance Hall of the Hsinchu County Cultural Affairs Bureau (新竹縣文化局演藝廳), 146 Siancheng 9th Rd, Jhubei City, Hsinchu County (新竹縣竹北市縣政九路146號); April 21 at 7:30pm at Chiayi Performing Arts Center (嘉義縣表演藝術中心演藝廳), 265, Jianguo Rd Sec 2, Minsyong Township, Chiayi County (嘉義縣民雄鄉建國路二段265號); April 28 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm and April 29 at 2:30pm at Taichung Chungshan Hall (台中市中山堂), 98 Syueshih Rd, Greater Taichung (台中市學士路98號); May 5 at 7:30pm and May 6 at 2:30pm at Tainan Municipal Cultural Center Performance Hall (台南市立文化中心演藝廳), 332 Jhonghua E Rd Sec 3, Greater Tainan (台南市中華東路三段332號); May 12 at 2:30pm and 7:30pm at Kaohsiung Cultural Center’s Chihteh Hall (高雄市立文化中心至德堂), 67 Wufu 1st Rd, Greater Kaohsiung, (高雄市五福一路67號); May 26 at 7:30pm and May 27 at 2:30pm at Taoyuan Multipurpose Culture Park (桃園縣多功能藝文園區), 21 Sianfu Rd, Taoyuan County (桃園市縣府路21號).
Admission: Tickets are NT$600 to NT$3,000, available through NTCH ticketing, online at www.artsticket.com.tw, and at 7-Eleven ibon kiosks
On the net: www.pingfong.com.tw
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