WHO WOULD pass up a free show?
In celebration of the 43rd year of the formal establishment of diplomatic relations between the Philippines and China, there will be a presentation of the play The Monkey King Making Havoc in Heaven on May 18 and 19 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
The play tells the story of Sun Wukong, also called the “Monkey King,” who trains monkeys in a place called the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits. One day, he receives an invitation from the Jade Emperor to attend a temple peach festival — which turns out to be fake. Enraged, the Monkey King calls upon his troops, wreaks havoc in the abode of immortals in heaven, and steals the temple peach.
The free cultural show is presented by the Qingdao Peking Opera.
Established in 1950, the company is recognized by China’s Ministry of Culture as a National Key Provincial Opera Troupe and a National Advanced Culture Collective.
The Qingdao Peking Opera Company is one of the elite and distinguished Peking Opera troupes in China, and has won several awards: the China Peking Opera Art Festival Award, the National Children’s Drama Repertoire of Outstanding Performances Award, the Shandong Province Quality Engineering Award, and the Shandong province Taishan Literary Award, among others.
In its nearly 70 years, the company has created a classic traditional repertoire which includes Harmony through a Royal Marriage, Silang Visiting His Mother, Wild Boar Forest, Farewell to My Concubine, Village Of Tigers, and Taking Turns Fight against Four Pairs of Mallets.
Aside from the performances, the Qingdao Peking Opera Company’s visit includes interactions, lecture-demonstration, and pre-production meetings with Filipino theater artists.
The production was made possible by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines together with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China and the Chinese embassy.
Admission to the show is free. For ticket reservations, call the NCCA International Affairs Office at 527-2206. — NFPDG

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