Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe: Experimental Kunqu Opera “The Chairs”

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Adapted from Eugène Ionesco’s 1952 play Les Chaises, this experimental Kunqu production blends Chinese traditional theatre with Theatre of the Absurd, delivering both in a new guise.

Presented by the award-winning performers of the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe, The Chairs is an acclaimed minimalist production that asks us to reflect on the meaning of life, love, loneliness, and the world around us.

On a deserted island, an old man and an old woman set out chairs for a series of invisible guests. After greeting old friends, first loves, their children, and even the emperor, the arrival of a final, long-awaited guest forces them to realise that everything has been an illusion, and that their lives are part of an absurd dream.

This programme is produced and performed by the Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe , and presented as part of the Black Box Chinese Opera Festival 2023 . The Black Box Chinese Opera Festival 2023 is presented by the Xiqu Centre, with the Yam Kim Fai and Pak Suet Sin Charitable Foundation as title sponsor. 

“The symbolic gestures of Chinese opera reflect the philosophy of Theatre of the Absurd in wonderfully unexpected ways.”
── Du Mingzhe, postgraduate student, Department of Theater Movie and Television, Nanjing University

“The actors display masterful voice skills and the performance feels lively and effortless.”
── Konstantin Raykin, Russian theatre artist

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