Anhui Huangmei Opera Culture Week in Macao “Sands China Performing Arts Programme” Presents: Classic Huangmei Opera “The Woman of Huizhou” and "The Stories of Huizhou"

The opening highlight is The Woman of Huizhou, which has won the "Cao Yu Drama Award" at the Chinese Theatre Festival and the Grand Prize of the 6th China Arts Festival. With minimalist opera aesthetics, the play outlines the cultural background of Huizhou. Through four acts of "Marriage, Longing, Lament, and Return", it condenses the story of a young girl who has been longing and waiting for 35 years. When her husband finally returns to his roots and meets her, he fails to recognize who she is...

The other "new aesthetic benchmark of Huangmei Opera", The Stories in Huizhou, is set against the background of banditry in Huizhou in the late Qing Dynasty, telling the ups and downs of merchant wife Shu Xiang (Cheng Qiuyue) through widowhood, escape, remarriage, and departure. As a leading figure in Huangmei Opera, Han Zaifen is famous for his performance of "equal emphasis on singing and acting, combining form and spirit". He has won many awards such as the Chinese Theatre "Plum Blossom Award" and "Wenhua Award", and has become the second artist after Mei Lanfang to have his theatrical achievements permanently collected by the Library of Congress in the United States.