Peking opera on world stage

A student performs at China's first national Peking Opera competition for overseas college students in Beijing. Photo provided to China Daily

Sun traveled to Hungary in 1990 as part of a short-term cultural communication program organized by the Ministry of Culture. The trip was the beginning of her decades-long effort to mix Peking Opera with mainstream drama in the Western world.

Her first adapted work was King St. Laszlo. She added elements of Peking Opera, such as acting techniques, simple stage layouts and face-mask painting into the classic Hungarian opera. The show was performed more than 300 times around Europe.

The success of the show saw Sun invited back to Hungary, and she stayed in the country for nine years. Her work in Hungary saw her adapt the Chinese literary classic Journey to the West for the stage, mixing characteristics of Peking Opera and Western musicals. The show was performed 600 times in Europe.

She has added elements of Peking Opera into a wide range of Western theater classics, from Hamlet to West Side Story.

"No matter how many times Western audiences have seen these plays, it still feels refreshing to see something different. Sometimes, we don't directly move Peking Opera into the shows, but the highly abstract stage design and motion will evoke the spirit of traditional Chinese drama."

"Action drama", a new genre of stage performance launched by Sun was therefore formed. An Action Drama Festival that began in 1994, continues to be held annually in Europe.

"Our shows are recognized overseas because what I present is a different tradition," Sun says. "I would never get such enthusiastic feedback if I was an opera actress, or a filmmaker, because those art forms were born in the West and established there."