Shanghai (CNS) -- A drama on the relationship and dating of Yang Silang and Princess Tiejing, two characters in a traditional Peking Opera called Yang's Heroine, was staged at the Tianchan Peking Opera Center Yifu Theater, Sunday.
Young artists Lan Tian and Ding Xiaojun played the two leading roles in this modern story with Peking Opera interpretations.
The unique drama was a part of the opening ceremony of the Shanghai Traditional Arts Cultural Week. The two main artists will contribute another four performances to the audience in Shanghai from September 23.
The "handsome and pretty" strategy has been working well on the young generation. Peking Opera artists took the step to meet their youthful tastes and adjust the art to a novel path of development.
Breakthroughs have been made in packaging artists, introduction to traditional operas by celebrities, and lectures on opera appreciation. The content of traditional operas has been extended broadly.
Side events like face-to-face conversations between the artists and the audience will be arranged, catering to the aesthetical values and recreational forms of the youth, according to Chen Xiaoleng, vice chairman of the Dunhuang Culture Promotion Foundation, one of the cultural week's organizers.
Another attempt to bring the traditional opera closer to youngsters is to choose an emotional story the young are familiar with.
