History
The theatre was built in 1688, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing Dynasty. It was built on the site of a Buddhist temple. It has a rich history that includes performances by the grandmaster of Peking Opera, Mei Lanfang.
After the Cultural Revolution, the theatre fell into disrepair. However, in 1995 a local businessman sponsored a full restoration. The theatre now continues to perform Beijing Opera. It is considered a living relic and one of Beijing's finest monuments.
As of August 2005, the theatre is temporarily closed for building work.
As of October 2010，the theatre was all set to reopen, with the premiere of Mei Lanfang Classics, providing a view of Peking Opera in its heyday.The play includes six classics from the 160 repertoires of Mei Lanfang, including Battle with Invaders,Drunken Princess,Goddess of Luo River,Taking Command of Troops,Sylph Scattering Flowers,Farewell to Princess Yu.
On June 10, 2012, the theater played host to American comedian Louis CK, who taped an episode of his show "Louie" there for an invitation-only audience.
Read more about this topic: Zhengyici Peking Opera Theatre
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The history of all Magazines shows plainly that those which have attained celebrity were indebted for it to articles similar in natureto Berenice—although, I grant you, far superior in style and execution. I say similar in nature. You ask me in what does this nature consist? In the ludicrous heightened into the grotesque: the fearful coloured into the horrible: the witty exaggerated into the burlesque: the singular wrought out into the strange and mystical.”
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849)
“Don’t give your opinions about Art and the Purpose of Life. They are of little interest and, anyway, you can’t express them. Don’t analyse yourself. Give the relevant facts and let your readers make their own judgments. Stick to your story. It is not the most important subject in history but it is one about which you are uniquely qualified to speak.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“The history of any nation follows an undulatory course. In the trough of the wave we find more or less complete anarchy; but the crest is not more or less complete Utopia, but only, at best, a tolerably humane, partially free and fairly just society that invariably carries within itself the seeds of its own decadence.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)