The Monkey King Making Havoc in Heaven featuring The Qingdao Peking Opera Company Live In CCP

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Cultural Center of the Philippines together with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of China and the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China proudly presents a special Beijing Opera performance of “ The Monkey King Making Havoc in Heaven ” featuring The Qingdao Peking Opera Company on Friday, 18 May 2018 (Gala Night) at 7:30 pm and Saturday, 19 May 2018 at 7:30 pm at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater) CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City.

Admission is FREE. For ticket reservations, please call the NCCA International Affairs Office at (02) 527-2206 --- Mon. – Thurs. 10 am to 4 pm.

The year 2018 marksthe 43rd year of the formal establishment of the Philippines- China  Diplomatic  Relations. In light  of  the  progress  made  by  the  increase  of  official people-to-people  contacts  and  exchanges,  both  countries  agreed  to  facilitate  cultural activities to further enhance the Philippines-China bilateral relations. 

Part  of  the  2015-2018  Executive  Program  (EP)  under  the  Philippines-China Cultural Agreement is a cross-cultural collaboration of the Filipino Sarswela萨斯威拉剧  and Chinese Jingju (Peking Opera) 京剧:

"Both sides will exchange  visits of a delegation of artists, composed of, but not limited to performers, directors, playwrights, musicians, and designers, who shall work towards  a  cross-cultural  collaboration  engaging  the tradition,  aesthetics,  conventions,  and innovations  of the Filipino Opera and/or Sarswela and the Peking Opera.

Specifics, including the number of members of the delegation, length of period of visit/interaction,  and activities, shall be decided through consultations between the concerned theatre/academic institutions in the Philippines and National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing.”

A successful synergy of foregoing art forms would not only entail combination of their commonalities   but  also  facilitation  of  a  dialogue  between  their  contradicting attributes.
Bridging the differences and how to go about the strict performance elements would provide a good groundwork for this particular theatre collaboration. 

The China-Philippines Diplomatic Relations was formally established back in June 9, 1975. The late Premier Zhou Enlai and the late Philippine  President  Ferdinand  Emmanuel  Edralin Marcos signed the  joint  communiqué of  the  establishment  of  diplomatic  ties  in  Beijing  and  formally established diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level.
Synopsis of " The Monkey King Making Havoc in Heaven."

When Sun Wukong led the monkey training in the “Mountain of Flowers and Fruits”, The Jade Emperor sent the God Venus to invite him to temple peach feast, which is not real invitation. Enraged by the news that he is not in the guest list of   peach feast, Sun Wukong smashed abode of immortals in heaven and stole the temple peach and elixir made by the God Venus.

Flaunting the banner of “The Monkey King”,   Sun Wukong called his own troops in the “Mountain of flowers and Fruits”. After defeating the Li Tianwang army sent by the Jade Emperor, Sun Wukong and all monkeys enjoy their happy lives in the “Mountain of flowers and Fruits”.

Established in 1950, Qingdao Peking Opera company is “National Key Provincial Opera Troupes” and “National Advanced Culture Collectives ” named by the Ministry of Culture, People's Republic of China. Awarded as “Shandong National Advanced Culture Collectives”, Qingdao Peking Opera company  was officially ratified as “Province-level Intangible Cultural Heritage” by People’s Government of Shandong Province.

Over the past 60 years since its founding, Qingdao Peking Opera company has inherited and developed various schools of Peking Opera through endless efforts of Peking opera artists as Yan Shaopeng, Zhang Chunqiu, Zhang Shaolou, Jie Yun Hong, Li Shibin, Dong Chunbo etc. In recent years, Qingdao Peking Opera company has been developing vigorously “Young Talent Cultivation Strategy”. Qingdao Peking Opera company is charged with the important task of cultural exchanges with foreign countries, and constantly sends art troups performing visit to Japan, Russia, Britain, South Korea, Norway and other countries. Qingdao Peking Opera company is one of the elite and distinguished  Peking Opera Troupe with strong ability in China.

The theater is actively developing the performance market, which is a very active Beijing opera performing art group in the country. In the years of artistic creation and the performance appraisal in the Central Propaganda Department won five awards, "China Peking Opera Art Festival Award", "National Children's Drama Repertoire of Outstanding Performances Award", "Shandong Province Quality Engineering Award" and "Shandong province TaishanLiterary Award and other awards.

The classic traditional repertoires  are  "Harmony through a Royal Marriage," "Silang Visiting His Mother," "Wild Boar Forest," "Qin Xianglian," "Wangjiang Pavilion, "Zhu Lian Village," “The Legend of Wang Baochuan and XuePinggui," "Big Two," “Uproar in Heaven," "Bazhen Decoction," "Mu Guiying," "Losing Pavilion•Use of Empty City•KillingMasu," "Farewell to My Concubine," "Nest," "An Imperial Concubine Gets Tipsy," "Changbanpo,"" Village Of Tigers," "Champion,""Taking Turns Fight against Four Pairs of Mallets.” The repertoires have won extensive influence and deep love among audiences  from home and abroad.