A Richmond group, along with several well-known artists, is bringing to the stage a classic Chinese play at the UBC Old Auditorium this weekend.
Thunderstorm is one of the most popular Chinese plays. Written in 1933, it tells the tragic story of a Chinese family and its psychological and physical destruction caused by the master of the house. All this happened on a thunderstorm night.
Although the play has been performed countless times, the show that’s hitting the stage on May 11 and 12 is unique, according to Vickie Zhang, president of the Richmond-based Fraser Volunteer Association of Canada, which is presenting the show.
“It is adapted into opera using both Western and Chinese music elements, and will be performed in Chinese by actors from diverse cultural backgrounds,” said Zhang, adding that there will be Chinese and English subtitles.
“This show has significant meaning. For the first time, artists are telling this Chinese story in the form of Western opera with actors whose first language is not Chinese.”
The opera Thunderstorm is a collaboration between renowned composers Kangnian Tang and Emily Pan, and the School of Music at the University of British Columbia (UBC). The show is directed by Nancy Hermiston, chair of the school’s voice and opera divisions, and performed by students from the school. The music will be played the Vancouver Opera Orchestra.
Zhang said the artists have been working on the show for more than a year and one of the challenges the performers had to overcome is learning Chinese – they had to learn the lyrics “sentence by sentence” which was not easy.
“We chose to present the opera at this time because May is the Asian Heritage Month, a time to remember the contributions Chinese Canadians have made to the Vancouver and Canadian community over the past 150 years,” said Zhang.
“As the Fraser Volunteer Association of Canada, we are very excited to present the show to help introduce Chinese culture to people – music is the bond that brings people together and promotes inter-cultural integration and understanding.”
For more information about the show, check the website.
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