Xiqu

“Killing Xi” from The Black Dragon House
The story is taken from the famous Chinese classic novel, The Water Margin. Song Jiang takes Yan Xijiao in as his concubine and sets up a home for her at the Black Dragon House. But he and Yan are on bad terms with each other. Yan strikes up an affair with Zhang Wenyuan, the scribe of Song’s yamen. Song has connections with the rebels on Liangshan, and receives an invitation from their leader to join them in the conspired uprising. He puts the letter in an office envelope but before he can destroy it, he bumps into Yan’s mother, who coerces him into going back to the Black Dragon House for the night. The next morning, in his hurry to leave, Song leaves behind the envelope. It is found by Yan, and when Song returns to get it, Yan lays down three conditions before she would hand it over. Song cannot but accept, yet still Yan forces her hand by threatening to reveal him at the magistrate’s court. Much provoked, Song kills Yan in his rage.

“Cixi and Dening” from Dawn at the Forbidden City
(also known as “In the Moonlight” from Dawn at the Forbidden City )
This is a new work in the historical drama genre. The story takes place during the last part of the 19th Century, on the eve of the outbreak of the 1911 Revolution. At a time when China’s doors remain firmly shut to the West, the vivacious De Ling, a Qing Dynasty princess brought up and educated in the West, enters the Forbidden City. Behind the heavy gates are the age-old precepts of palace life and court strife, under the domineering Empress Dowager Cixi. They offer a startling contrast to De Ling’s perception and understanding of the civilized West, and so the story of this drama begins.

“Farewell My Concubine” from Xiang Yu

Excerpt from Cuiping Mountain
The story is taken from The Water Margin. Yang Xiong and Shi Xiu are sworn brothers, and Yang helps Shi to open a butcher’s shop. Yang’s wife, Pan Qiaoyun, has an affair with a monk, Pei Ruhai. Shi sees through it and warns Yang of this. Yang returns home drunk, and Qiaoyun and her maid corroborate to accuse Shi of trying to seduce her. Yang is fooled and has a fall-out with Shi. Shi grudgingly leaves as he is unable to clear his name. That night, in a drunken state, he kills Pei in their tryst, and shows Yang the proof of their adultery. The reveal makes Yang realize that Shi is innocent, and the two hatch a plot in which they lure Pan and her maid to Cuiping Mountain in order to get them to tell the truth. After that, they kill the two women before heading to Liangshan to join the rebels there.