The 6th Greater Bay Area Chinese Theatre Cultural Festival, set to run between 22 April to 28 June, was officially inaugurated with a promotional event in Shenzhen on 10 April, according to several media outlets.
For the first time, the festival will adopt a “four-city collaboration” model across Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Macao. It brings together ten distinctive productions spanning Yue opera, Taizhou Luantan opera, Cantonese opera, drama, physical children’s theatre, musical theatre and more.
In Hong Kong, the all-female Yue opera Su Dongpo starring acclaimed performer Mao Weitao will open at the West Kowloon Cultural District’s Xiqu Centre, alongside A Master Selection of Taizhou Luantan Opera Excerpts and A Master Selection of Cantonese Opera Excerpts.
Shenzhen will stage three Hong Kong and Macao productions at the Pingshan Grand Theatre, including the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre’s award-winning The Emperor, his Mom, a Eunuch and a Man and two Macao works: Hide and Seek, which won the prestigious Cao Yu Prize, and the physical children’s theatre The Naughty Nursery.
[See more: Meet Lawrence Lei I Leong: Winner of Macao’s first Cao Yu Prize]
Meanwhile, Guangzhou will host the world premiere of the new Cantonese opera Song Ci by the Guangdong Cantonese Opera Theatre.
Macao closes the festival with the play Her Dynasty, which tells the story of the only female emperor in Chinese history. Also being staged is the musical theatre piece Seeing Words Like Seeing You that fuses Peking Opera, Kunqu Opera, Yue Opera, and Huai Opera. The first-ever Taiwanese production at the festival – the original musical Nora inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House – is also being performed.
The festival aims to strengthen Macao’s image as a “City of Performing Arts” while creating a high-level platform for theatrical exchange and resource sharing across the region.
The Greater Bay Area Chinese Theatre Cultural Festival was established in Macao in 2020. Ticketing information can be found collated on the Macau Ticket website.
