The London Traveler

If you’ve ever wanted to watch Chinese opera, head for Sadler’s Wells, where the authentic, five hundred year old tradition of the Chinese opera is on show till 8th June.

The Peony Pavilion tells a weird love story – a girl who dies of love after meeting a young scholar in a dream, the scholar who digs her body up to restore her to life. It’s a rather odd story, in which the realistic surface of the world shatters and dreams and ghosts seem more ‘real’ than we are.

Kunqu opera is a mixed medium – in addition to the music and dance which are part of Western opera, it includes acrobatics. Instead of attempting to achieve realism, it tries to create an elegant, allusive world – the setting is not realistic, but painterly, trying to distil the essence of the landscape rather than create an imitation. So the unreal atmosphere of the story is reflected in the way that it’s told.

What I find particularly intriguing is that The Peony Pavilion was written in the 1590s – the same time that Shakespeare was beginning his career.

This should be a fascinating experience. The whole opera lasts three evenings (so not quite as heavy as Wagner’s Ring, which is four), though Sadler’s Wells is equally happy to sell you a ticket for just one night if you want to sample the opera.

Where: Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue (Angel Islington tube)

When: June 3-9, 7.30 (4pm on Sunday)

Photo of Chinese opera in Vancouver by Roland Tanglao, on Flickr

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