Peony Pavilion Onstage

Peony Pavilion Onstage PDF Author: Catherine Swatek
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 1938937104
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 512

Get Book

Book Description
After its completion in 1598, The Peony Pavilion (Mudan ting) began a four-hundred-year course of transmission and dissemination in China and around the world. Within China, the play’s wide popularity propelled its appearance in numerous editions, adaptations, and libretti. Performances ranged from “pure singing” at private gatherings to full stagings in commercial theaters. As the crown jewel of Kun opera reportoire, Mudan ting has a richly documented history and lends itself to careful study. In the late twentieth century, however, classical Kun opera is on the verge of extinction in China, and creative talent is gravitating to centers outside China’s mainland. In 1998, the play was reintroduced to audiences in Europe and North America in various versions, adding new chapters to the story of the work. Peony Pavilion Onstage examines Tang Xianzu’s classic play from three distinct viewpoints: public-literati playwrights; professional performers of Kun opera; and quite recently, directors and audiences outside China. Catherine Swatek first examines two adaptations of the play by Tang's contemporaries, which point to the unconventionality of the original work. She goes on to explore how the play has been changed in later adaptations, up to its most recent productions by Peter Sellars and Chen Shi-Zheng in the United States and Europe. Peony Pavilion Onstage is essential reading for scholars and performers of this masterpiece and other great works of Chinese drama.

Peony Pavilion Onstage

Peony Pavilion Onstage PDF Author: Catherine Swatek
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 1938937104
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 512

Get Book

Book Description
After its completion in 1598, The Peony Pavilion (Mudan ting) began a four-hundred-year course of transmission and dissemination in China and around the world. Within China, the play’s wide popularity propelled its appearance in numerous editions, adaptations, and libretti. Performances ranged from “pure singing” at private gatherings to full stagings in commercial theaters. As the crown jewel of Kun opera reportoire, Mudan ting has a richly documented history and lends itself to careful study. In the late twentieth century, however, classical Kun opera is on the verge of extinction in China, and creative talent is gravitating to centers outside China’s mainland. In 1998, the play was reintroduced to audiences in Europe and North America in various versions, adding new chapters to the story of the work. Peony Pavilion Onstage examines Tang Xianzu’s classic play from three distinct viewpoints: public-literati playwrights; professional performers of Kun opera; and quite recently, directors and audiences outside China. Catherine Swatek first examines two adaptations of the play by Tang's contemporaries, which point to the unconventionality of the original work. She goes on to explore how the play has been changed in later adaptations, up to its most recent productions by Peter Sellars and Chen Shi-Zheng in the United States and Europe. Peony Pavilion Onstage is essential reading for scholars and performers of this masterpiece and other great works of Chinese drama.

The Peony Pavilion

The Peony Pavilion PDF Author: Xianzu Tang
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253340979
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 390

Get Book

Book Description
A celebrated translation of this masterpiece of Chinese literature, in an updated edition

A Study Guide for Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion"

A Study Guide for Tang Xianzu's Author: Gale, Cengage
Publisher: Gale, Cengage Learning
ISBN: 0028670973
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 27

Get Book

Book Description
A Study Guide for Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion", excerpted from Gale's acclaimed Drama for Students. This concise study guide includes plot summary; character analysis; author biography; study questions; historical context; suggestions for further reading; and much more. For any literature project, trust Drama for Students for all of your research needs.

The Peony Pavilion

The Peony Pavilion PDF Author: Xianzu Tang
Publisher: Cheng & Tsui
ISBN: 9780887272066
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 364

Get Book

Book Description
Formerly banned in China, performed at New York's Lincoln Center, and named as an Outstanding Academic Book by Choice, The Peony Pavilion has an intriguingly diverse appeal.

Persons, Roles, and Minds

Persons, Roles, and Minds PDF Author: Tina Lu
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 9780804742023
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 380

Get Book

Book Description
Focusing on two late-Ming or early-Qing plays central to the Chinese canon (Peony Pavilion and Peach Blossom Fan), this study explores crucial questions concerning personal identity.

The Peony Pavilion

The Peony Pavilion PDF Author: Xiaoping Yen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780966542127
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book

Book Description
A sixteen-year-old girl visits a forbidden garden and falls in love with a young man she meets in a dream. She has an affair with her dream-lover and dies longing for him. After her death, her unflagging spirit continues to wait for her dream-lover. Does her lover really exists? Can a youthful love born of a garden dream ever blossom? Based upon a famous sixteen-century Chinese opera written by Tang Xianzu, 'the Shakespeare of China', the novel leads the reader into a mythical world of passion and romance. Its many fascinating characters include a failed scholar, a Taoist nun, a husband and wife rebel team, a dissolute emperor, and Tartar invaders from the North.

Peony in Love

Peony in Love PDF Author: Lisa See
Publisher: A&C Black
ISBN: 1408811790
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 399

Get Book

Book Description
Peony has neither seen nor spoken to any man other than her father, a wealthy Chinese nobleman. Nor has she ever ventured outside the cloistered women's quarters of the family villa. As her sixteenth birthday approaches she finds herself betrothed to a man she does not know, but Peony has dreams of her own. Her father engages a theatrical troupe to perform scenes from The Peony Pavilion, a Chinese epic opera, in their garden amidst the scent of ginger, green tea and jasmine. 'Unmarried girls should not be seen in public,' says Peony's mother, but her father allows the women to watch from behind a screen. Here, Peony catches sight of an elegant, handsome man and is immediately bewitched. So begins her unforgettable journey of love, desire, sorrow and redemption.

The Peony Pavilion, Second Edition

The Peony Pavilion, Second Edition PDF Author: Xianzu Tang
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253215277
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Get Book

Book Description
This is a complete English translation of a great love story by Tang Xianzu, perhaps the finest of the Ming dramatists. Cyril Birch and Catherine Swatek reflect upon contemporary performances of the play in light of its history.

Scenes for Mandarins

Scenes for Mandarins PDF Author: Cyril Birch
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231102636
Category : Drama
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book

Book Description
Ming drama represents the classical Chinese theatre at its most mature. Between 1368 and 1644, more than 400 playwrights produced over 1500 plays, ranging from one-act skits to works with 50 scenes or more. As a performing art, Ming theatre includes polished singing, enchanting music, fantastic plotting, and intricate choreography.

Passion for Peonies

Passion for Peonies PDF Author: David Michener
Publisher: University of MICHIGAN REGIONAL
ISBN: 0472037803
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Get Book

Book Description
There’s no more breathtaking signal of summer’s onset than the blooming of peonies. Stunningly beautiful and relatively easy to grow, peonies are a favorite flower everywhere they can be cultivated and for good reason: the heady fragrances and enchanting colors of a peony-rich display create an immersive experience that has enamored generations of garden lovers across the world. This passion is on full display each June at the historic Peony Garden of the University of Michigan’s Nichols Arboretum. Originally planted in 1922, the Nichols Arboretum Peony Garden now boasts North America’s largest public collection of heirloom herbaceous peonies. The Peony Garden has become a sacred space for the Ann Arbor community, a not-to-be-missed sensation when it erupts each season, as the Ann Arbor Observer once wrote, in “a riot of color, of crimson, rose and shell pink intermingled with fluffy pompoms of creamy white.” The rather short period of peak bloom—about two fleeting weeks each year—only seems to intensify the garden’s appeal, drawing thousands of visitors annually to this spectacular “living museum” on campus that showcases upwards of 10,000 blossoms. Richly illustrated with hundreds of striking color photos, Passion for Peonies collects short essays that celebrate the story of the Nichols Arboretum Peony Garden as well as the rich social history of peony gardening that it is an integral part of. Together these pieces comprise a love letter both to a magical public space at the University of Michigan and to the broader history and culture of peony gardening. The book will appeal to readers interested in the University of Michigan, the history of public gardens, and of course peonies!