{"id":72554,"date":"2018-01-22T15:07:05","date_gmt":"2018-01-23T01:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=72554"},"modified":"2019-03-19T11:12:28","modified_gmt":"2019-03-19T21:12:28","slug":"three-chinese-comedies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2018\/01\/22\/three-chinese-comedies\/","title":{"rendered":"Ring in Chinese New Year with Flights and Delights: Three Chinese Comedies"},"content":{"rendered":"<span class=\"span-reading-time rt-reading-time\" style=\"display: block;\"><span class=\"rt-label rt-prefix\">Reading time: <\/span> <span class=\"rt-time\"> 3<\/span> <span class=\"rt-label rt-postfix\">minutes<\/span><\/span><div class=\"responsive-video-wrap\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"676\" height=\"380\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CxkqfQieuyU?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" title=\"YouTube video player\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>The University of <span aria-label=\"Hawaii\">Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> at M\u0101noa&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/liveonstage\/theatre\/\">Department of Theatre and Dance<\/a> presents <a href=\"http:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/liveonstage\/delights\/\"><em>Fights &#38; Delights: Three Chinese Comedies<\/em><\/a>, co-directed by <strong>Elizabeth Wichmann-Walczak<\/strong> and <strong>Mark Branner<\/strong>, in February. Celebrating the <em>chou<\/em>&#8212;or comic&#8212;character, the three plays are filled with acrobatic contortions, mistaken identities, adorable lovers and exhilarating battles. This production highlights the vibrancy of traditional Chinese theatre and opens at Kennedy Theatre Mainstage on February 16&#8212;Chinese New Year. Performances run February 16, 17, 23 and 24 at 7:30 p.m., and on February 18 and 25 at 2 p.m.; free pre-show chats will be held on February 17 and 24 at 6:45 p.m. February 17 is Throwback Saturday, with tickets only $5 to $15. Regularly priced tickets are $8 to $25. <em>Fights &#38; Delights<\/em> will be performed in English.<\/p>\n<h2>About <em>Flights &#38; Delights<\/em><\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_72571\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-72571\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/manoa-kennedy-theatre-flightsdelights3.jpg\" alt=\"Actors in Chinese costume\" width=\"310\" height=\"439\" class=\"size-full wp-image-72571\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/manoa-kennedy-theatre-flightsdelights3.jpg 310w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/manoa-kennedy-theatre-flightsdelights3-212x300.jpg 212w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-72571\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Example of <em>jingju<\/em> performance from Kennedy Theatre&#8217;s production of <em>The Phoenix Returns to Its Nest<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The three Chinese comedies featured in <em>Fights &#38; Delights<\/em> are: the <em>chuanju<\/em>, &ldquo;Pi Jin Rolls the Lamp&rdquo; and two <em>jingju<\/em> &ldquo;Treasure in the Chest&rdquo; and &ldquo;Where Three Roads Meet.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Treasure in the Chest&rdquo; tells the story of a young woman whose mother and brother leave home to arrange a marriage for her. While they are gone, a young scholar arrives and begs her to save him from two officers hot on his trail. &ldquo;Pi Jin Rolls the Lamp&rdquo; recounts the tale of a wife punishing her husband for his gambling problem. The wife, with the help of her daughter, compels her husband to perform spectacular acrobatics while balancing an oil lamp on his head. &ldquo;Where Three Roads Meet&rdquo; relates a story about the famous Chinese general, Jiao Zan, in which he has killed a traitor and is traveling into exile under armed guard. It features a comic innkeeper and his clever wife, two comedic officers and a young warrior determined to protect Jiao Zan.<\/p>\n<p><em>Fights &#38; Delights<\/em> is the twelfth traditional Chinese theatrical production performed at Kennedy Theatre since it opened in 1963. In the 1980s, <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii\">UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa alumna and Professor of Asian Theatre Wichmann-Walczak became the director of the department&#8217;s Asian Theatre Program and began the tradition of producing <em>xiqu<\/em> (pronounced she-chew)&#8212;indigenous or traditional Chinese theatre or &ldquo;opera&rdquo;&#8212;every four years at Kennedy Theatre. The student performers&#8217; high skill-level has remained consistent throughout the years. They receive 4 to 8 months of intensive training in song, speech, dance, acting and combat, all taught by leading artists from China. Said Wichmann-Walczak, &ldquo;To me this high level of skill is the most astonishing thing about these productions. It is still very rare for Chinese theater to be performed in the English-speaking world, and even more unusual for such performances to result from a long-term, intense and rigorous training program like this one.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Event Information<\/h2>\n<figure id=\"attachment_72569\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-72569\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/manoa-kennedy-theatre-flightsdelights2.jpg\" alt=\"Actors in costume\" width=\"310\" height=\"472\" class=\"size-full wp-image-72569\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/manoa-kennedy-theatre-flightsdelights2.jpg 310w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/manoa-kennedy-theatre-flightsdelights2-197x300.jpg 197w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 310px) 100vw, 310px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-72569\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Example of <em>chuanju<\/em> in Chinese production of <em>Pi Jin Rolls the Lamp<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Date<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>February 16, 17*, 23 and 24* at 7:30 p.m.<\/li>\n<li>Matinee February 18 and 25 at 2 p.m.<\/li>\n<li>*6:45 pm&#8212;free pre-show chat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Location<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kennedy Theatre Mainstage<br \/>\n1770 East-West Road, 96822<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Tickets<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>$25 Adult<\/li>\n<li>$22 Senior, military, <abbr>UH<\/abbr> faculty\/staff<\/li>\n<li>$20 <abbr title=\"University of Hawaii Alumni Association\">UHAA<\/abbr><\/li>\n<li>$15 Students\/youth<\/li>\n<li>$8 <abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa students with valid <abbr title=\"Identification\">ID<\/abbr><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ticket prices include all service fees.<\/p>\n<p>Tickets for <a href=\"http:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/liveonstage\/delights\/\"><em>Fights &#38; Delights: Three Chinese Comedies<\/em><\/a> are <a href=\"http:\/\/etickethawaii.com\">available online<\/a>, by phone at (808) 944-2697, at participating outlets and at the Kennedy Theatre box office. Sales at the Kennedy Theatre Box Office begin on February 12, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday with extended sales hours on show days.<\/p>\n<p>For more information, visit the <a href=\"http:\/\/manoa.hawaii.edu\/liveonstage\/delights\/\">Kennedy Theatre website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_72570\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-72570\" style=\"width: 676px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/manoa-kennedy-theatre-flightsdelights1.jpg\" alt=\"Actors in Chinese costume\" width=\"676\" height=\"381\" class=\"size-full wp-image-72570\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/manoa-kennedy-theatre-flightsdelights1.jpg 676w, https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/manoa-kennedy-theatre-flightsdelights1-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 676px) 100vw, 676px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-72570\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Example of <em>jingju<\/em> from Kennedy Theatre&#8217;s production of <em>The Jade Hall of Spring<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><abbr>UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa&#8217;s Kennedy Theatre presents three plays filled with acrobatic contortions and exhilarating battles to entertain audiences of all ages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":72570,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[131,76,9,56],"class_list":["post-72554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","tag-kennedy-theatre","tag-theatre-and-dance","tag-uh-manoa","tag-video-2","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/manoa-kennedy-theatre-flightsdelights1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72554"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72554\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72841,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72554\/revisions\/72841"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}