A Night at the Peking Opera by Alice Foster, Gumley House Convent School

Across the world, London is known for is vast diversity; rich and vibrant cultures which should clash, somehow compliment each other, making it a hub for creativity and collaboration. Because of this, there are many outstanding theatres and performing arts centres which allow a space for culture to create a community. One such place is Sadler’s Wells Theatre where I got the opportunity to see the Peking Opera company perform live.

Since 1683, Sadler’s Wells has been entertaining the people of London. Though it started as a music house - built by Richard Sadler - that featured jugglers, ballad singers, wrestlers and dancing dogs; by the 18th century it had evolved into a highly regarded opera house. By the 1970s, collaborations with Rambert Dance and London Contemporary Dance were taking place, leading it to establish a strong reputation in the performance industry.

Since then, Sadler's Wells has become a leading theatre that, according to it’s website, ‘not only promotes but commissions and produces outstanding dance’.

Because of it’s impressive reputation, Sadler’s Wells also hosts a range of travelling theatre or opera companies from abroad. One such company is the Peking Opera Company.

Peking Opera is a traditional Chinese opera that originated in 18th Century Beijing. It features live music, singing, dance and acrobatics. It also displays highly decorative costume and backdrops which help to show the Imperial China in which it is set. 

 The opera I went to see was The Phoenix Returns Home. It is a story of two sisters - one ugly and one beautiful - and the confusion and upset that their betrothals and marriages cause. It is a romantic farce; a tale of manipulation and mistaken identity.

As a 14-year-old who has never been to China, I had never experienced an evening like my night at the Peking Opera ever before. The movement, voice, costume and set were all dazzlingly stylistic and we’re completely mesmerising. Not only was each movement perfectly rehearsed and dance-like, the use of voice was unlike any play I had seen before. The tones of the characters voices were all extremely exaggerated so that characters were clear and, amazingly, the performers were also able to sing using the same stylistic tone.

The music was also absolutely beautiful. It was a very traditional Chinese sound and was used to pace the performers movements and set the tone of the scene. It was amazing to see such interdependency between the performers and the musicians as that isn’t common in naturalistic theatre today.

As a whole, I thought that the Peking Opera’s performance of The Phoenix Returns Home was a visually and audibly stunning performance. I loved that it was so different to anything I’ve ever seen before and I feel that only in places so diverse as London that a school girl like me can experience such astounding elements of other cultures in a theatre right on my doorstep.

By Alice Foster