June 22, 2006

Xin Kwang Theatre

"........ ah ar ah are uh are ar are ah ar are ar ar arrrrrr ..... "
chang! tok! tok! tok! changgg!! chang chang chang chang chang...

You would here this if you stand outside Xin Kwang (Sun Kwong in Cantonese) Theatre in Hong Kong.

This type of singing and the clanging of cymbals is synonymous with Chinese opera.

This theatre is an icon of Cantonese opera to the people there. Throughout the year there are opera performances – by local troupes as well as China troupes. Besides Cantonese operas, occasionally there are other types of Chinese opera. The outside space is quite small and usually there are illuminated boards informing you of coming shows.

The night I was there there was a performance by a HK troupe led by two established artistes Li Long and Nam Fung.


The view from the street


The illuminated boards


This is the show I watched.


Coming performances



1 comment:

amai said...

Wow...this is so interesting...Usually when I go to China or Japan...I would look out for performances.
In china, I have seen live opera performances in Shanghai, Beijing, Xiamen and Zhangzhou so far. In Hangzhou, I xtually went to Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Troupe to watch their rehearsal...In Shaoxing, I watched Flower's troupe's rehearsal in their their mini theatre. In Japan...I specially went to Osaka Takarazuka Grand Theatre to watch Taka..
So next time if i visit HK, I wanna go to this place too. ^^