Int'l Drama Festival Honors Tang Xianzu and China-UK Ties

2017-09-27 Source: China Daily

An international drama festival opened in the eastern Chinese city of Fuzhou, Jiangxi province, on Sunday, to pay tribute to acclaimed Chinese playwright Tang Xianzu (1550-1616) and to celebrate 45 years of ambassador-level diplomatic relations between China and the United Kingdom.

In a month-long event running through the end of October, the Tang Xianzu Drama Festival and International Drama Exchange Month will bring to stage a total of 23 dramas from countries including China, UK and Spain, together with more than 110 traditional operas performed by folk troupes from the city.

An array of parallel cultural activities will also be held, such as the Tang Xianzu International Tourism and Gourmet Festival, Panorama of Fuzhou Intangible Cultural Heritages and Exhibition of British and Chinese Photography.

Tang Xianzu, hailed by his followers as "China's William Shakespeare", was a Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) playwright. He composed more than 2,000 poems and essays during his lifetime, particularly remembered for four plays - The Peony Pavilion, The Purple Hairpin, Record of the Southern Bough, and Record of Handan.