2022 marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of Master Yu Zhenfei, the first head of the Shanghai Kun Opera Company (SKOC).

2022 marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of Master Yu Zhenfei, the first head of the Shanghai Kun Opera Company (SKOC). Taking this opportunity, Wu Promotion and the SKOC will join forces for the fourth time to explore new opportunities for the development of kunju genre in the era of epidemic with multiple performances of their famous “The Peony Pavilion" in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and other Chinese cities.

SKOC has been committed to preserving and passing on the art of kun opera for many years, and is known for its "first-class company, first-class actors, first-class repertoire and first-class performances".

As a professional promotion agency, Wu Promotion is familiar with the rules of the domestic and international performance market and its viewing habits. Currently, due to the pandemic, both sides have been exploring new performances and development modes, and in 2022 will concentrate on presenting the performances in China targeting Chinese young audiences through a series of online and offline promotion.

Wu Promotion and SKOC have co-organized many successful performances in overseas markets. Mr. Wu Zezhou, founder of Wu Promotion, said "By virtue of the national people's own efforts, we can dynamically showcase the essence of our culture and art to the world stages and the international cultural market." This is the unchanging intention of Wu Promotion, which practice has never stopped in the 30 years since its establishment.

The special partnership between Wu Promotion and SKOC began in 2011 and has debuted since to the European audiences The Palace of Eternal Youth, The Legend of the White Snake and the Leifeng Pagoda, Four Dreams in The Camellia Hall among many others, bringing the traditional Chinese art and culture out of the country and onto the world stage.

In 2022 commemorating the 120th anniversary of the birth of kun opera master Yu Zhenfei, Wu Promotion and SKOC will take the opportunity to continue his legacy to make more accessible and understandable to the Chinese audience the characteristics and importance of the kunju, the oldest extant form of Chinese opera.

Chinese Kunqu Opera is in vogue!

Kun Opera is one of the oldest forms of Chinese operas, with a history of more than 600 years, but its elegant and romantic masterpieces still "haunt" all stages today.

As a play that was originally written for staging Kunqu opera, there are some versions of The Peony Pavilion, the romantic tragicomedy play written by dramatist Tang Xianzu in 1598 that can be regarded as his most successful masterpiece in his life, and that are worth mentioning such as the youthful one made in 2004 by writer Bai Xiangyong; the special presentation in 2016 in Guangzhou and Beijing in memory of the 400th anniversary of Tang Xianzu's death.

In recent years, several Kunqu companies have been creating immersive kun opera performances, with small landscaped gardens that are more "immersive" than the stage. All these successful practices prove the popularity of Chinese Kunqu.

The Peony Pavilion is beautiful, full of uniquely Chinese aesthetics, expressing people's most beautiful hopes for love, but also possessing an exploration of women's self-awareness that transcends the times. The Kunqu Opera's production takes this beauty from the classic literature to a timeless legend on stage.

SKOC has presented different versions of The Peony Pavilion, including the 55 full scenes, short and partial excerpts, passing on to the audiences the life-and-death love relationship of Du Liniang and Liu Mengmei with its beautiful singing, solid foundation, and affectionate performance. A love that has undiminished in 400 years.

Wu Promotion & Shanghai Kunqu Opera Company
A Review of Our Overseas Tour / 2011-2021

In 2011, Wu Promotion and SKOC worked for the first time presenting the 12 hours full-length version of The Palace of Eternal Youth at the Cologne Opera House in Germany. The four acts were performed over four consecutive nights by Kun Opera national treasures such as Cai Zhengren and Zhang Jingxian, and received and endless applause from the German audience.

In 2017, The Legend of the White Snake performed in the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC) of Athens for the first time as the opening opera of the season; which also meant the first Chinese kunju performing company ever presented in this Greek venue.

In 2018, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the SKOC, Wu Promotion brought one of the dramas in Tang's famous collection “Four Dreams in The Camellia Hall” to the Haus der Berliner Festspiele in Germany and the Art Science Park Sirius of Sochi in Russia. This was the first time that a traditional Chinese opera was presented in these two overseas landmark cultural venues.