Suzhou Kunqu Opera Company of Jiangsu

Dating back to the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), a period of Chinese history where art and culture flourished, Kun Opera (Kunqu) is the essence of China’s traditional opera and has influenced virtually all other forms of opera in China, including Beijing (or Peking) Opera. The most refined and literary of all forms of Chinese opera, the art combines great literature, music, dance, and drama, as well as embodying the aesthetic values of Chinese culture.

The Suzhou Kun Opera Theatre of Jiangsu is the number one exponent of Kunqu, and was established in 1956. Since its inception, the company has groomed four generations of performers, numbering over a hundred, and has aimed to salvage, uphold and develop the classical art form.

Askonas Holt is thrilled to bring the Suzhou Kun Opera Theatre to Sadler's Wells for its UK debut in June 2008, as well as touring the company to the prestigious Athens Festival. The performances feature 'The Peony Pavilion', in a brilliantly realised new version by Professor Kenneth Pai, one of China's foremost writers and scholars of Kunqu.

The company’s other repertory includes ‘The Story of the White Rabbit’, ‘The Story of the Wooden Hairpin’, ‘Fifteen Strings of Cash’, ‘A Houseful of Lords’, ‘The Palace of Eternal Life’, ‘The Injustice Done to Dou E’ and 270 excerpts of the traditional Kunqu Opera repertory.