Dragon Whiskers Ditch, The Teahouse, two noted plays by Lao She (Shu Sheyu) and another play adapted from his novel Four Generations Under One Roof, known in Chinese as Si Shi Tong Tang are for the first time allowed to be staged in Taiwan January 16th by Beijing Qu Opera Troupe founded by Lao She.
In 1998, the Beijing Qu Opera Troupe applied to have a public show of Lao's Dragon Whiskers Ditch in the Island province but was turned down by the "Ministry of Education" after so-called "examination". Before that, the Teahouse met with the same fate.
Today, cultural exchanges between the two sides across the Taiwan Straits have become more frequent, eventually offering the Taiwan audience the opportunity to appreciate the famous works of the "the people's artist", the media reported in the province.
Shu Yi, the son of Lao She, also the curator of Beijing Modern Art Museum will join the tour to Taiwan. Unlike Dragon Whiskers Ditch and The Teahouse, the Four Generations Under One Roof was but a novel and it has experienced a second creation, according to Shu Yi. "Putting into the trilogy of Qu opera, the play may be though lack of the sharpness of a satiric style as does in the original, is added with some pleasing and melodious music", he is quoted as saying.
Shu said the day of the premiere in Taiwan, January 16, has unique significance, as it coincides with the 35th anniversary of his father's passing away and the 50th anniversary of the completion of Dragon Whiskers Ditch.
(People's Daily 01/15/2001)
