Playwright, Director, Artistic Director: Zhang Yimou

Costum Designer: Jérome Kaplan (French)

Lighting Designer: Zhang Yimou

Performer: National Ballet of China

Accompaniment: Symphony Orchestra of China National Ballet

Conductor: Zhang Yi

After winning international fame with his 1991 film “Raise the Red Lantern”, China's best-known director, Zhang Yimou, reworked his masterpiece into a ballet. This particular production is directed by Mr Zhang himself, and danced by the National Ballet of China, with music by the Symphony Orchestra of China.

Combining elements of Western dance and classical Peking opera, the ballet strives to achieve the film's visual intensity. Set in the warlord era of 1920s China, it tells the story of a beautiful but adulterous concubine caught in the household intrigues of a powerful mandarin. With its themes of women's rights, the role of the individual in an authoritarian system, and the heavy burdens of culture and tradition, “Raise the Red Lantern” has long been probed by critics—and deemed suspect by government censors—for its potential relevance to modern China.

Synopsis

Raise the Red Lantern tells of a girl who reluctantly becomes the third wife of a powerful mandarin in the 20s of the last century. Her beauty makes her husband desire her greatly, to the extent that he forces her to submit when she shows reluctance. She protests desperately but fails to avoid her tragic destiny. She idles away her life by watching operas in theaters or playing mah-jong all day long. From time to time she would seek chances to meet her former lover, a handsome young opera performer. But her private dating is spied by her husband's second wife who is jealous. Her adultery is caught by her husband on the spot. But the second concubine receives nothing but a slash on the face from her husband. Frustrated in agony, she tears all the red lanterns in the courtyard. Their husband, also their master, because furious and put his two concubines to death. Before dying, the two envious concubines forgive each other, entirely forgetting their hatreds.

A modern ballet with the sweep of a big-budget motion picture. A powerful piece of dance theatre.” — NEW YORK TIMES

“Brilliantly staged” — WASHINGTON POST

“East meets west in epic style” — SUNDAY TIMES

“Sweepingly cinematic, intriguingly different and genuinely moving” —METRO

“It is big, bold... the dancers are strong and confident” — METRO

“Strong stuff, a whirlwind of violent emotions” —THE TIMES

Remarks: Tickets for Raise the Red Lantern by National Ballet of China will be available soon!