Beijing Opera comes to Addington in Conjunction with The Court Theatre's Production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, 5/31-6/21

"Half the company in A Midsummer Night's Dream is Chinese from Beijing," says Philip Aldridge, Chief Executive at The Court. "This is a magical production that came about through a collaboration with Peking University's Institute of World Theatre and Film."

Beijing opera is the most famous form of traditional Chinese theatre. Performances combine music, vocals, mime, dance, acrobatics and martial arts. Actors wear magnificent embroidered costumes, each designed to reflect the social status of the character being portrayed.

Makeup includes dramatic face painting and sometimes masks which are intended to further enhance audience appreciation of the 'true' personal disposition of each character. Different colour masks help raise audience anticipation as the unpredictability and drama of the plot as it unfolds.

"The display of model Chinese opera masks serves to remind us of the wonderful, unique theatre and performance genre that developed in China over many, many centuries. However despite the geographic and language separation that existed between Chinese and Western theatre there are, nevertheless, remarkable artistic similarities between the two traditions. The world of theatre has been greatly enriched by contemporary collaborations that encourage performances which not only explore these similarities but infuse elements of the 'other' into dramatic interpretation and delivery," says Roger Fyfe, Canterbury Museum's Senior Curator Human History.

This collection is on temporary display in The Court Theatre foyer during the A Midsummer Night's Dream season, 31 May ?21 June 2014.