A time to dream

Yue Opera originated in Shaoxing, in Zhejiang province in the mid-1800s.

Then, in the 1920s, all-female Yue Opera troupes began to appear in Shanghai and soon gained success.

The 1930s and 40s witnessed a peak in the popularity for traditional opera, especially in Shanghai.

And hundreds of new plays were created, covering a broad range of subjects - from ancient Chinese folklore to modern literature.

Liu Qian, a researcher of traditional Chinese opera at SYOT, says two "mothers" nurtured Yue Opera in that period. And they borrowed lots of styles, movements and choreography from traditional Chinese Kunqu Opera, and performance techniques from modern theater.

Speaking about the "mothers", Liu says Xu Yulan established a theater troupe in the 1940s, and borrowed the system of modern drama companies. So, her Yulan Company was the first Yue Opera troupe in Shanghai to have a team of playwrights and stage designers.

Then, Wang Wenjuan joined Yulan in 1948, and the two began a collaboration that went on for over 70 years.

After the birth of New China in 1949, several private troupes came together and formed the government-backed Shanghai Yue Opera Theater in 1951.

Xu Yulan and Wang Wenjuan played the lead characters in A Dream of the Red Mansions when the play was created in 1958.

And the next year the production was staged in Beijing for the 10th anniversary celebrations of the founding of New China.